The Trouble with Schmutzli

Schmutzli is a new one for me. A dark and mysterious figure that accompanies Santa Claus (or Samiklaus) on his rounds in Switzerland on December 6. An enforcer.

Legend has it that...

"...if a child had been bad, Schmutzli would put him or her in his sack and carry him into the forest to be beaten. Other accounts speak of Schmutzli actually eating children for misbehaviour or tossing them into a river."  --  (Link to full story in Swiss News)

Fun stuff, and surely a happy evening for all when kids are freaked out before they get their presents. Could this be the origin of the famous Swiss political neutrality? When a knock comes on your door, you never know if it will be Samiklaus or Schmutzli who greets you, so best to play it cool.

I wonder if this kind of Good Santa/Bad Santa act would work well in the U.S.?