Friday, December 09, 2005

Christmas

I keep reading/hearing people complain about companies being too politically correct when it comes to Christmas. It is true that you see a lot of avoidance of using the word, but you know, it doesn't bother me at all. As long as it is a market response, there is no injustice here. You may be annoyed, but you can always go to a Christian book-store or something to get very religious Christmas stuff. Or, just call it a Christmas tree, scribble out Happy Seasons on your cards... you know, get creative.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Andy,

I am not religious at all. I am not a right-wing zealot. But I am pissed about this issue. Last year when I was stuck in a hospital bed for ten days before Christmas, I noticed that nearly every television commercial advertising for the season avoided the word Christmas. Why? Is Kwanzaa fruit a big money maker? Gifts are not traditionally part of Chanukah festivities. Rather, gelt, a small amount of money, is traditionally given. Although this has changed recently, there is still a large hesitance to overly give. I don't see how Macy's makes much profit off of given money as a gift and modest gift that the majority of Chanukah participants give.

The bottom line is that retailers depend on the commercialism that Christmas engenders. Christmas generates a majority of the profit for retailers for the year…why do you think they call the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday? The retailers want Christmas dollars without recognizing or acknowledging the event that creates this burst if consumerism.

Retailers have every right to acknowledge or not to acknowledge Christmas. I love Christmas, and I choose to shop where the retailer shares my embrace and love for this wonderful holiday. Many people share my enthusiasm…some religious nuts, some not…we are just voicing our concern.

As a side note I love that the retailers avoid the word Christmas because of the religious overtones…but will use the word holiday not noticing for a second that the word is a derivative of ‘holy day’. You gotta love the irony in that.

Chris Silvey
http://www.chrissilvey.com/weblog/

December 9, 2005 at 9:04 PM  

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