’Twas the night before Christmas 2020

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
While kids should have nestled all snug in their beds
a little boy Remy lay awake instead.

Last year his parents had thrown all their life savings
in a store that would satisfy all your sweet cravings.
The Sugar Plum Cafe smelled sweet like vanilla,
the tastiest cupcakes in all of Manila.

But while their life savings at first had seemed plenty,
they hadn’t accounted for… well, 2020.
And while Remy’s parents were excellent cooks,
lockdown meant they could not balance the books.

Remy needed help, he needed help quick:
when you need a miracle write to Old Nick!
He wrote down his worries, put them in a letter
and wished hard come Christmas that all would be better.

Now at the North Pole, Santa was feeling grouchy,
he’d just had a Zoom call with his friend Dr. Fauci
“Hey Doc, I don’t want this to sound too informal,
but I’ve had quite enough of this so-called new normal”

“As I travel to all the world cities,” he exclaimed,
“the problem is that they all seem the same!
From London to Seoul, the same mega brands.
Does no-one still craft anything with their hands?”

“For cities to thrive we need mom-and-pop business,
but this year they won’t even make it to Christmas!”
He marched to the mailroom, still buzzing with noise,
saw millions of letters requesting new toys.

They filled up the aisles, they filled up all the shelves,
they filled up the hands of the (mask wearing) elves.
“This might be the strangest Christmas I’ve seen!
I hope that reindeer can’t catch COVID-19…”

But what is this? To Santa’s eyes should appear,
a missive from Remy so short and sincere:
“Dear Santa, I don’t need a new PS5.
Oh please just make sure my folks’ cafe survives!”

Santa’s eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
“I have an idea! Mrs Claus, hold the sherry!
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Set sleigh to turbo!”
(The rest of the reindeer had all been furloughed.)

And into the night flew a sleigh red and pretty,
with GPS set for Makati City.
To Remy’s surprise, he heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of reindeer hoof!

With a laugh Santa told him, “don’t worry, young Remy,
for your parents’ business the answer is Lemi!
Focus on their story, treat customers like royalty.
Lemi helps you drive business, expand and gain loyalty”

“I know it feels things are about to go south,
but the most powerful word is word-of-mouth.
Your regular customers, we’ll make them vocal,
(and as Greta tells me, it’s best to shop local)”

So with Lemi’s help they turned things around,
their COVID-themed cupcakes were the new hit in town.
Was it magic? Or digital marketing? Nope!
Turns out what we needed this year… it was hope!

Now Remy can sleep all snug in his bed,
as visions of Sugar Plum dance in his head.
2020 has been the toughest of years,
but with Lemi we can be superspreaders of cheer!