It's almost that time of year when parents start posting pictures on social media of their child's Elf on the Shelf causing havoc.

Elf on the Shelf is a tradition where every day in December, once the kids are in bed, parents place the elf in different locations in the house so he pops up somewhere new when they wake up in the morning.

Some of the ideas that parents have come up with in the past have been the elf (who you name yourself) sitting on the toilet, playing in the snow and hiding in the dog's basket - although that might not always be the parents' idea if their dog takes a fancy to the elf.....

Elf on the Shelf
Elf on the Shelf

Children can chat to the elf but can't touch him otherwise he will 'disappear forever' according to the book.

Well you might remember last year, Poundland jumped on the elf idea and caused some controversy after their elf, called Elfie, posed in some bizarre positions.

Poundland's "Elf Behaving Badly" campaign
Poundland's "Elf Behaving Badly" campaign

The most famous being when an image was shared of a Christmas elf 'teabagging' what looked like a Barbie doll...

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It soon prompted a complaint from the tea company Twinings, after a product from the brand was used to create the scene, which Twinings said they had no involvement in, and added that it is “obviously not reflective” of their brand values.

But, despite the suggestive poses in the advert having been banned from future use by the Advertising Standards Agency, the Naughty Elf is returning for another year, and this time he's bringing a friend...

Last year's campaign cost a total of £25.53 and this year they're tripling the budget to £76.59, and bringing in a female character called Elvie.

According to the Daily Star, 85 people complained about the campaign in the run-up to Christmas last year.

However, after seeing this year's news, some Twitter users rushed to share their excitement.

One person laughed: “Haha looking forward to the little elves.”

Another person wrote: “Only started following the account for the naughty elves last year. Here's hoping they're even naughtier this year.”

“Had to wait a whole year for the adventures of the naughty elves #cantwait,” said a third, beside a wink face emoji.

“Looking forward to your Christmas tweets this year,” a fourth told the company. “Last year's were a hoot - not least the outraged responses!”