Santa rode a Turkey past Thanksgiving to give presents instead of candy on Halloween. Usually the holidays start early, but the 2009 holiday season is starting unusually early, and for one reason…profits.
I’ve never experienced Christmas commercials…I mean “holiday” commercials the DAY AFTER Halloween, until this year. November 1st, I saw a commercial for K-Mart advertising layaway, telling customers to buy early so you can get what you want (or rather what your bratty kids want) and spend the next two months paying for it. All of this under the guise of getting what you want early, and then spreading payments over time to be able to have your cake and eat it too.
I’ve never experienced Christmas commercials…I mean “holiday” commercials the DAY AFTER Halloween, until this year. November 1st, I saw a commercial for K-Mart advertising layaway, telling customers to buy early so you can get what you want (or rather what your bratty kids want) and spend the next two months paying for it. All of this under the guise of getting what you want early, and then spreading payments over time to be able to have your cake and eat it too.
This is part of what got us as Americans in trouble in the first place, spending beyond our means. The disingenuous ad executives for K-Mart and the rest of the commercial Robber Barons are slyly suggesting consumers to spend what little money they have sooner than ever, in order to make their millions off of the every-man.
However this commercialism isn’t blatant and outright in our faces, which makes it all the more worse, as it is subversive. This morning while ordering a coffee at Dunkin Donuts, I heard: “Here Comes Santa Claus,” on the radio and Starbucks is selling Thanksgiving blend coffee as well as Holiday (Christmas) blend coffee. Apparently one is clearly for everyone on Thanksgiving and the other is sort of for everyone as it’s secularly devoid of any religious affiliation, yet packaged in silver and red tinsel bags.
Usually Christmas ads show up on Thanksgiving Day, mixed within the images of fall food and turkeys. Ads are filled with holiday cheer and laughing families, and maybe even some snow. For the longest time, Black Friday has almost been part of Thanksgiving for Christmas-celebrating Americans. People get up before the break of dawn to stampede down to the mall to get the best deals on the latest and most coveted plastic crap, being hawked at us.
It makes me wonder, if anyone on the whole is even aware of the seasonal stress already bearing down upon us, or if they sense anything at all. My first inclination is that they do not, for pure reason alone, the commercials and ads already exist. Businesses can predict yet another poor holiday season, and have decided to combat sluggish sales, by selling early.
I can’t help but to take the moment to suggest, rather than buying the same amount of junk earlier, but buying less and more thoughtful gifts. Let us make this an opportunity to spend wisely and think first for once, rather than hear another story in the news where people are trampled to death from storming a Wal-Mart before it opens.
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