Dad picks up daughter from airport in elf costume and goes viral

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) —  A Kansas dad is getting a lot of attention for the hilarious outfits he wears to pick up his daughter from the airport.

Courtney Payne said her dad, Doug, first started the trend in 2018 after she moved to Portland for graduate school.

After he showed up at Kansas City International Airport on Sunday in an elf costume, she finally decided to share his silliness on social media — and it quickly went viral, garnering more than 30,000 likes in less than a day.

“It wasn’t a one time thing. He does this literally every time,” Courtney said. “This last one was the biggest with the elf costume he ordered on Amazon.”

That’s when Courtney had the idea to share all of the photos of her dad dressed up as various characters on Twitter.

Her original goal was to get 10,000 likes, a goal which the post quickly surpassed.

“It started to climb up the social media ladder really quickly,” she said.

Other ideas Doug has come up with include posing as a limo driver with a sign for Miranda Lambert and a sign that simply read, “Kardashian.”

Some might view the signs as embarrassing, but Courtney said it makes her thankful.

“My reaction would have been different in middle school, but I’m just glad to have loving, caring parents.”