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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: 'Tis the season to be greedy
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
Am I imagining things, or has the onslaught of Christmas advertising not only begun earlier this year, but has also taken on a much greedier tone?
Black Friday was bad enough, but now we have Black Thursday (Thanksgiving Day itself) also, to the point where Walmart employees have threatened to strike over their extended shifts. Walmart employees on strike? What next?
The spirit of joyful giving and grateful receiving seems to be completely missing from the latest spate of advertising. Rather, the theme seems to be this: shop as early as you can, spend as much money as you can on as many things as you can, and to hell with everything else.
I'm not picking up on a warm, fuzzy feeling about "the Holidays" from these latest ads, as has been true in the past. No snug gatherings around toasty warm fireplaces, no bellying up to Grandmas's table laden with her most cherished family recipes, no exchange of greetings among old friends. Rather, nothing but buy, buy, buy, spend, spend, spend, as much as you can, as fast as you can.
Have others noticed this too? Does it reflect some profound change that has taken place in the way we relate to each other as a society? Discuss.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
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Posted
I don't know about the content of commercials because I don't really watch much TV. But I do know about the moving ahead of Black Friday sales to Thursday, and that's just. plain. wrong. Thanksgiving is meant for family and friend time, not madly battling crowds for the best price on some piece of merchandise.
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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
...but if you do it together... ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Niteowl
Hopeless Insomniac
# 15841
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
...but if you do it together...
Like the families who are camping out at the stores to make sure they are first in line to get the best bargains?
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"love all, trust few, do wrong to no one"
Wm. Shakespeare
Posts: 2437 | From: U.S. | Registered: Aug 2010
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
Recession desperation - the economy needs people to buy buy buy.
Simple solution - don't watch the adverts. I avoid them completely, all year round.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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fletcher christian
Mutinous Seadog
# 13919
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Posted
I've actually cut back, despite the pressure to get more. About five years ago I started to notice that come November the shops started to fill up with grossly overpriced goods. Things that cost five euro, suddenly cost fifteen because they come in sparkly glitter wrap with a plastic bauble on the side. I got tired of it; and I'm far from a humbug type of person when it comes to Christmas, but I really hate being ripped off. The pressure to get useless stuff for people who don't really want it and certainly don't need it was part of my decision to call a halt to it. I now only buy for immediate family and some of us have come to an agreement not to buy (possibly because I'm so darned difficult to buy for) and that takes some of the pressure off.
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'God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe'
Staretz Silouan
Posts: 5235 | From: a prefecture | Registered: Jul 2008
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
Am I imagining things, or has the onslaught of Christmas advertising not only begun earlier this year, but has also taken on a much greedier tone?
Over here it's been noticeably later than previous years (hell, a few years ago the ads were starting in August), and I haven't noticed them being any more greed-oriented than usual.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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fletcher christian
Mutinous Seadog
# 13919
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Posted
posted by Spigot:
quote:
Personally I hate Christmas and ignore it as much as possible.
{much smoke invades the board}
Three ghosts shall haunt you this night Mr Scroo...I mean Mr Spigot. The first will be the ghost of cultural relevance whom you may try to escape, but resistance is futile. The second will be the ghost of the merry Christian who will sing carols as you burn him and who will churn your stomach with a gut wrenching nausea as he gives his final rendition of 'Away In A Manger'. The final visitation shall be worse than the last (recall someone else saying that once) and the ghost of what every atheist knows will come to tell you life is short my friend - better just get on with letting the elves and fairies sprinkle glitter in your hair and think warm and fluffy things before you go out with a bang. Otherwise you might miss stuffing your face and all those parties, and who could resist a little light in these dark days?
{much noise of snapping crackers and that gawd awful Slade tune}
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'God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe'
Staretz Silouan
Posts: 5235 | From: a prefecture | Registered: Jul 2008
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the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
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Posted
I saw an advert on the side of a bus stop shelter today, saying "Christmas is empty when you have nothing." I thought the slogan was fair enough, validating Christmas as a festival of consumerism which annoyingly is scheduled around the same time as Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ and the corresponding entrance of hope into the world.
I was surprised that the organisation promoting such a consumerism-validating statement was The Salvation Army ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
Good news for all people indeed!
[ 20. November 2012, 12:20: Message edited by: the giant cheeseburger ]
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If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
"Christmas is empty when you have nothing."
I was surprised that the organization promoting such a consumerism-validating statement was The Salvation Army
Charities probably depend on the Christmas season for a big chuck of their income, I expect their goal was to promote giving to charities that feed and shelter those who have nothing indeed -- no food, no shelter, no safety.
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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Anyuta
Shipmate
# 14692
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Posted
more and more I value my cutting of the chord and switching to internet only for my TV viewing.. no, or very few, commercials! I was spared all the political adds (only realized just how bad it was in the "real" world when waiting for a car repair waiting room with a TV).
I further distance myself from the consumerism by a)shopping online ONLY for Christmas (and shopping way early
b) generally buying things I would buy anyway
c) celebrating the Nativity of Christ on the old calendar, and the consumerist aspects of Christmas on the new.
That being said, I didn't notice that stores stared their Christmas push any earlier (they'd have to start in August to be much earlier than they have been for years), nor have I noticed it to be much more obvious. I did hear my first Christmas carol in a store in early October this year, which was weird. Hard to feel very Christmassy when you haven't done Halloween yet.. and the warm weather doesn't help either (although I celebrate the holiday in Florida, so a warm Christmas is not that strange)
Posts: 764 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2009
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
It's nothing new. Way back in the 60s when I was but a wee lad we heard this from the noted psychiatrist, Lucy Van Pelt:
"Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know."
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
Our sons each produced a modest wish list this year.
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
I live in a swing state, so any advertisement that isn't about how someone is going to destroy the country if elected is a relief.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
Am I imagining things, or has the onslaught of Christmas advertising not only begun earlier this year, but has also taken on a much greedier tone?
On this point, I usually expect Christmas advertising to start in earnest on the Monday before Thanksgiving. This year, Thanksgiving is early. So yes, those retailers that follow the traditional model are starting early this year.
I wouldn't be surprised if the fact that Black Friday advertisements seem more prevalent has to do with this as well. Retailers probably base their Christmas advertising budget on a four week buy, and we are still five weeks out from Christmas. So maybe there are simply more slots for Black Friday sale advertisements.
(All of that was totally made up, but it made sense to me. My wife used to do advertising layouts at a monthly magazine, so she would probably understand how this works better than I do.)
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
But what bothers me most is the tone of the advertising.
It would be one thing to see something like: "The Holidays mean so much to so many of us, so if you want to give something special to that special someone, come to Klotz's, where we will be open at midnight on Thanksgiving Day to serve you."
What we are seeing instead is: "Hurry and come to Klotz's before anyone else does, where you can spend more money than you ever dreamed possible on things you never dreamed you'd need. And for God's sake, don't go anywhere else."
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Barefoot Friar
Ship's Shoeless Brother
# 13100
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Posted
Can it be that the early Fathers were right all along? Advent is my most favorite season. I am incensed that Madison Avenue dictates to the Church when we can celebrate Christmas. Around here, congregations get sucked into the commercialism and the secular drive to do everything Christmas in the month leading up to Dec. 25, so much so that on the 26th we all fall in a debt-ridden heap, utterly sick of Christmas. Enough, I say. I've challenged my congregation to escape that this year and observe Advent. I've done so for several years and have gotten much meaning out of it. And much less stress.
I sold shoes for five Christmas seasons. I became acutely aware of the crass commercialization of the holiday pretty quickly. I'm still not over it, in some ways. This year does indeed seem worse than previously, with the possible exception of last year. Maybe since the world is coming to an end we should just go ahead and buy whatever the heck we want before we go. If only.
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Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. -- Desmond Tutu
Posts: 1621 | From: Warrior Mountains | Registered: Oct 2007
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
Times is 'ard at the mo, and I guess that businesses are getting desperate, therefore the hard sell. Even charities are using the hard sell more and more, which makes me determined to give anonymously in future, so they can't keep trying to contact me with more demands.
I'm not too affected by the hard sell Christmas advertising, as I buy one or two presents all year round, to ease the expense, and also to buy unusual presents when I see them, rather than all in a panicked rush at the end. It's rather enjoyable, then, to float above all the pre-Christmas fervour, and staying immune.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I'm not too affected by the hard sell Christmas advertising, as I buy one or two presents all year round, to ease the expense, and also to buy unusual presents when I see them, rather than all in a panicked rush at the end. It's rather enjoyable, then, to float above all the pre-Christmas fervour, and staying immune.
I do that too. It is fun to go into a store or a craft fair and ask myself, "Is there anything here that anyone I buy presents for would like?" If I find something, that's great; if I don't, there's no pressure.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
We've even had our state political leader telling us that it is our duty to spend our savings this Christmas to help the country. Trouble is, the coffers are empty, utilities are an exorbitant price and people are doing it tough. On her large salary she can probably manage a bit of spending, but most of us need to be careful with what money we have.
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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Panda
Shipmate
# 2951
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Posted
I try to 'float above it' too, to the point that I turn off the radio if it starts playing carols before I'm ready. The downside of this is that Christmas proper has a way of sneaking up on me - last posting dates overseas, Christmas cards etc all seem to take me by surprise if I'm not careful!
Posts: 1637 | From: North Wales | Registered: Jun 2002
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I'm not too affected by the hard sell Christmas advertising, as I buy one or two presents all year round, to ease the expense, and also to buy unusual presents when I see them, rather than all in a panicked rush at the end. It's rather enjoyable, then, to float above all the pre-Christmas fervour, and staying immune.
I try to do the same but then there are the years where you think you've allocated everyone a suitable present then suddenly find all you have left for an elderly aunt is novelty boxers ...
What riles me is the way reasonable birthday cards vanish around early November, often not to reappear until after Valentine's Day. With 9 close family birthdays between mid-November and mid-February it can be tricky .. and I do get a bit peeved getting birthday presents in obligatory "Christmas" packaging from the manufacturers.
On the other hand...
Those darling people who repeat the mantra "well, its for the children, isn't it?". A reply along the lines that Herod felt that way too is sometimes hard to resist.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Belle Ringer
Shipmate
# 13379
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
I'm not too affected by the hard sell Christmas advertising, as I buy one or two presents all year round, to ease the expense, and also to buy unusual presents when I see them, rather than all in a panicked rush at the end. It's rather enjoyable, then, to float above all the pre-Christmas fervour, and staying immune.
I was doing that, and like you say enjoying it, but then one year the extended family I had been doing the gift thing with for decades declared "no gifts" -- 2 weeks before Christmas. That left me with a dozen targeted gift purchases with no home. (Most were not the things the gift trees want.)
There's a risk to buying ahead of time!
Posts: 5830 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2008
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
Last week I was in a local grocery store and heard the treacly tones of Robert Goulet butchering some old chestnut of a Christmas song. Can't remember what it was but I was aghast with horror--from his singing and the fact that a Christmas song was playing an entire week BEFORE Thanksgiving, even. I have noticed an alarming trend in stores. No sooner does one holiday barely finish when the store employees are cramming new holiday trinkets and baubles onto the shelves. Yeah, it does seem to be a bit more frantic this year. Maybe that means we are closer to the end of the world??!
I can always hope, can't I? ![[Two face]](graemlins/scot_twoface.gif)
I wish I could go away and live on some remote island that has no knowledge of Christmas and New Year celebrations. If I never again heard about the "ball dropping" and the "countdown to the new year" or had to endure one more playing of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" I would be a very happy woman.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
Yes, and Amanda, all the morning news/fluff shows have "experts" giving advice on what to shop for and when. And the annual riots and people getting trampled to death over some over-priced trendy "gotta have it!" item... Gotta have it before anyone else gets their mitts on it. Yech! If one of my girlfriends wasn't so enamoured of t.v., I would just unplug the damn thing until after the first of the year.
I think I'll start wearing earplugs when I go out of the house so I can avoid hearing anything having to do with the holidays!
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Graven Image
Shipmate
# 8755
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Posted
I have no TV so I miss the ads. I make most of my Christmas gifts, or buy them at charity fund raisers during the year. So other then tins of cookies all gifts are wrapped by Thanksgiving Day and put away. Then I go into Advent mood and stay there except for St. Nicholas day which I always celebrate making cookies with grandchildren. I do not go into a single store during the holiday season. Stay away from the crowds, and put my tree up Christmas Eve and celebrate all 12 days of Christmas. I do go to Christmas plays or concerts with family or friends. It remains my favorite time of the year. Relaxed, Reflective, and Joyful.
Posts: 2641 | From: Third planet from the sun. USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The5thMary:
I think I'll start wearing earplugs when I go out of the house so I can avoid hearing anything having to do with the holidays!
Now, get in the queue to buy those designer earplugs!
80% of people round here walk round wearing headphones - maybe they are avoiding the holidays too?
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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M.
Ship's Spare Part
# 3291
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Posted
I agree with Marvin the Martian upthread, that it seems to have started later this year around here. And no bad thing, too.
M.
Posts: 2303 | From: Lurking in Surrey | Registered: Sep 2002
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
I haven't been in to the city, and the TV ads have washed over me. But I didn't mind one bit when a magnificent choir on the car radio sang 'Es ist ein rose entsprungen' – they can play that as early as they like.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
As long as we're talking about Christmas, would someone please post the link to that wonderful/awful rendition of 'O Holy Night'.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
I think this reflection gives a good perspective on Black Friday.
In it, Diana Butler Bass points out that many of the people rushing Wal-Mart and similar stores on Black Friday are actually there for things they need, but normally can't afford. Obviously, it's not a scientific survey of people in line - there are certainly a good share of middle-class people trying to stretch their Christmas dollars to include as many things as possible. But it's good to remember that greed isn't the whole story there, at least.
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I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
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M.
Ship's Spare Part
# 3291
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Posted
Sorry, what's 'Black Friday' - did the stock exchange crash or something?
M.
Posts: 2303 | From: Lurking in Surrey | Registered: Sep 2002
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
M
BLACK FRIDAY in the USA is the Friday after Thanksgiving which is when, traditionally, Christmas shopping really takes off. Many stores reckon that it is in the period from Black Friday to about a week before Christmas that they generate the profits that see them through the rest of the year.
This year some stores caused a bit of fuss by launching their Christmas sale period on Thanksgiving itself and - surprise, surprise - the aisles were thronged with busy shoppers looking for a bargain.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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M.
Ship's Spare Part
# 3291
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Posted
Thanks, l'organist and curiosity killed. I'd been thinking along the lines of Black Monday some years back, when stock markets crashed.
M.
Posts: 2303 | From: Lurking in Surrey | Registered: Sep 2002
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Meg the Red
Shipmate
# 11838
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Posted
Black Friday came screeching over the border this year, as retailers attempted to persuade Canadians to shop locally instead of picking up deals from US stores. My inbox kept filling up with hourly "deals" from the likes of Amazon.ca and electronics retailers.
I made a point of buying nothing on Friday except a couple of groceries I needed at the (Canadian-owned) grocery store next door to my home.
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Chocoholic Canuckistani Cyclopath
Posts: 1126 | From: Rat Creek | Registered: Sep 2006
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Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
I think this reflection gives a good perspective on Black Friday.
In it, Diana Butler Bass points out that many of the people rushing Wal-Mart and similar stores on Black Friday are actually there for things they need, but normally can't afford. Obviously, it's not a scientific survey of people in line - there are certainly a good share of middle-class people trying to stretch their Christmas dollars to include as many things as possible. But it's good to remember that greed isn't the whole story there, at least.
This makes no sense to me. How is it not greedy to want to pay less for more stuff?
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
In it, Diana Butler Bass points out that many of the people rushing Wal-Mart and similar stores on Black Friday are actually there for things they need, but normally can't afford.
It seems to me that the Black Friday bargains are not essential items. They tend to be things like expensive electronic equipment, which people can live without.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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