by: 
Put a creative spin on your annual corporate holiday cards with funny Christmas photos and clever captions that add an extra layer of fun and humor to seasonal greetings. Similar to Funny Family Christmas cards, corporate cards blending humor and holiday greetings make you stand out from businesses that use simpler, more serious card options. Here are 13 photoshoot ideas businesses can use to create personalized holiday cards that bring holiday joy to clients and employees through humor.
1. A Visit from the Grinch
Nothing brings on the giggles like a holiday Grinch, and you can use this classic Christmas character to evoke a grin from holiday card recipients. Dress the office manager or CEO in a Grinch costume and take photos engaging in decidedly un-holiday-like activities. Showcase your costumed office Grinch absconding with files clearly labeled as your office holiday party plans or sneaking off with lunches from the break room fridge. Give your Grinch a large bag to stuff stolen presents from under the tree, and act out scenes with employees as Whoville residents trying to stop him.
2. String Light Shenanigans
Stock up on holiday fairy lights and stage a photoshoot where the boss or employees are tied up or tangled in the tiny glowing strands. A row of employees secured to their desks with string lights might merit the caption "Tied up in holiday orders" to poke fun at your busiest season of the year. A mock-serious series of photos showing the employee of the month being dressed up in lights and ornaments in lieu of a traditional tree might proclaim, "Our Star Employee Shines Bright This Season." Other string light and corporate holiday card message ideas include showing employees engaging in a tug-of-war using glowing strands wrapped around the boss, or a series of shots with corporate managers pretending to swing from strands attached to the ceiling.
3. Be the Elf on Your Shelf
Dress the face of your company in an elf costume and spend some time finding amusing places to perch throughout the office. Pose with an actual elf doll and match your location and action to the toy to make holiday card recipients do a double take. You might also consider posing your boss dressed as an elf in the background of an otherwise serious office photo. Employees in holiday clothing could stand in the foreground while the costumed elf sits on a shelf or mantle behind the rest of the crew.
4. Naughty vs. Nice
Dole out naughty and nice hats for everyone in the office, and host a photoshoot where members of each team act out silly behaviors suiting their hats. Examples might include funny photos of nice employees handing out gifts while naughty employees steal them from under the tree or naughty workers playing catch with packages while nice employees work diligently. Another idea is to build a giant faux scale with naughty and nice sides, and photograph a line of employees waiting their turn to check their status as the boss stands on the scale, clearly showing he's weighing down the naughty side.
5. The Boss Got Run Over By a Reindeer
Business Christmas cards often introduce an element of humor by poking fun at the head of the company. Switching up the popular song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" to create a funny sleigh accident involving the boss is a great way to evoke nostalgia while showing your manager's silly side. Stage a fly-by reindeer attack using a cardboard cutout or plastic reindeer and sleigh decoration to indicate what happened to the boss. Surround your felled manager with scattered files, haphazard post-it notes and suspicious hoof prints. Other employees can play the part of mock-horrified associates who've discovered the scene of Santa's crime.
6. Festive Fulfillment Fun
Turn your warehouse fulfillment center into Santa's workshop with employees dressed as elves. Enhance the humor with mock-disaster scenes showing a bevy of employee elves holding up a tower of toppling packages or playing around as they keep the workflow going. You could also emphasize how hard everyone works with a theme focused around "working all night long." Invite employees to wear pajamas, and shoot photos of everyone dressed in fuzzy fleece featuring candy canes, snowflakes, and holiday characters. Caption your greeting card with an amusing reference to working extra hard during the holiday season, but add a tongue-in-cheek element by showing employees playing around throughout the facility, instead of working in the middle of the night.
7. Make Your Best Boss the Best Boss from “The Office”
The iconic holiday episode of “The Office” makes a great basis for a corporate Christmas card photoshoot. Dress your manager in a red velvet Santa tuxedo similar to the one Michael Scott wore in the show, and hand him a "World's Best Boss" mug to recreate the famous scene. Other employees can dress as supporting characters from the show to make the reference even more obvious. Other classic TV shows and movies with scenes perfect for funny holiday cards include “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “A Christmas Story,” and the “Friends” episode, “The One With the Holiday Armadillo.”
8. Coal Haul
Create a Christmas disaster scene for your funny card with your boss checking the office stocking to find only coal. A posed shot with the big boss upending a coal-filled stocking while employees sit nearby marveling over stockings filled with office supplies and cute company swag lets you poke fun at the head of your company while celebrating the season. Another option is to show a line of stockings with the names of managers and employees full of wrapped presents while Santa tucks lumps of coal into the boss' stocking.
9. Santa as a Customer
Showcase your customer-facing services with a funny Christmas card showing Santa as a client. If you're running a day spa, images of Santa Claus relaxing during a foot bath and massage brings a hint of humor to your holiday business communications. Restaurants might feature Santa sneaking dessert while Mrs. Claus isn't looking, while a doctor's or dentist's office could show images of employees dressed as elves getting their pre-holiday checkup. Other ideas include taking pictures of a line of Santas waiting to check out at your register or picking out items on your store shelves.
10. All Is Calm and Bright
Put the soothing words of a favorite Christmas carol alongside photos showing frazzled employees in seasonal outfits rushing to complete holiday tasks. Take a series of shots featuring employees "accidentally" destroying the holiday office decor. Show Sam from accounting tumbling into the office Christmas tree, while Jo and Jane from marketing trip over a string of garland, which drags down all the wall decor in their wake. You can set up a set of single photos to showcase different members of your team dealing with individual holiday disasters, or create a single giant disaster photo with dozens of employees creating chaos, so card recipients find hilarious new elements the longer they look at the image.
11. Silly Living Snowflakes
Arrange everyone into small groups, and lie down on a solid-colored backdrop to create living snowflake designs using outstretched arms and legs. Get up high to capture the impression of snowflakes on the ground, but keep close enough to capture silly expressions as employees do their best snowflake impressions. You can also have employees arrange themselves to spell out holiday greetings and spread the joy of the season.
12. In-the-Box Gift Adventure
This kind of holiday photo card involves a series of individual boxes arranged in a 4x4 or 6x6 square that tell a story in sequence. Shoot pictures of one or two employees in each box doing a particular holiday activity that leads into the next photo box. Employees in one box might be handing off a string of lights to the group with a tree in the next box, while employees in a top box might be peering down at a large present falling onto the heads of employees in the box below them. While this kind of personalized holiday card takes some advance planning, the results are worth the effort.
13. Mascots, Mutts, and Mischievous Feline Friends
If your workplace has an official office cat or hosts "bring your dog to work" days, build a funny Christmas card photo shoot around the animals that bring your employees and customers so much joy throughout the year. Clients and associates might appreciate seeing familiar office pets dressed up in cute holiday sweaters or Santa hats, and with a little effort and a lot of treats, you can get plenty of fun action shots around the office. Check out our Christmas card ideas with your cat to get more inspiration. If your business is animal-free, getting someone to wear the company mascot costume is another alternative. Show your official corporate mascot arm wrestling Santa or fending off an army of elves intent on taking over the mailroom.
Create a Funny Christmas Card with Truly Engaging!
Start your corporate Christmas card search by browsing Truly Engaging selection of customizable Christmas Photo Cards. Order online and customize your perfect card with photos from your company photo shoot, your business name, and a creative caption for a personal touch.
