In favor of their own traditional bearer of Christmas gifts -- "Christkind" -- the Austrians have reignited an anti-Santa campaign on the grounds that what works for English speaking countries doesn't necessarily work for them.

"Christkind is bringing my presents this year," one Austrian four-year-old told the BBC. "Father Christmas is for England." Santa Claus, the Austrians say, was "invented by Coca-Cola."

One organizer of the anti-Santa movement explained, "We are not against Santa. He is good for the British and Americans but he is not good for us." Christkind, the Austrian giver, is an ethereal Christmas presence associated with the sound of a tinkling bell or a flicker of light whose origins date back to the 16th and 17th centuries in Germany and Austria.

It's the age-old argument denouncing the commercialism that's been ascribed to modern day Christmas celebration, a commercialism viewed as a reflection of the American (and British) drift from Christian roots. And it's an argument that, for the Austrians, might be worth designating some time and effort -- if Christkind's role as a magical bearer of gifts were not exactly that of Santa Claus.