Christmas Capitalism

For a holiday that officially starts and ends on December 25th, the commemoration of Christmas is seemingly expanded to ridiculous lengths every year. Like most holidays in America, there is a distinct brand of commercialism and capitalism that has painted over the more sacred elements of Christmas. Black Friday kicks off this rapid parade of bargain shopping and hording of gifts, which means that there is a cavalcade of TV, radio and Internet ads that accompany this procession of spending. Old holiday symbols and relics are rehashed every year: Frosty the Snowman, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and of course, the ubiquitous Santa. Retail outlets like Gap try to shake things up with jazzy song and dance numbers. Unfortunately, most of these ads come off as hokey, uninspired, even boring. The repetition of symbols and songs combined with hard selling takes all the humanity out of the corporation-consumer relationship. Joseph A. Bank is practically begging customers to shop at their stores! I find it oddly appropriate that the most amusing and memorable advertising comes from insurance providers and beer companies. I think that even Santa Claus would need a Bud Light to digest some of this repetitive garbage.

No Fun League

Anyone who knows me on a personal level knows that I have strong feelings about the NFL. In short, I love it. However, there are some nuances about the league that constantly irk me, particularly those that involve the interference of the front office. Today I read a very interesting story by Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports about Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek. Celek celebrated a touchdown reception this past Sunday by posing with a teammate in the corner of the endzone. So what? Well, it garnered significant attention from the league office because the celebration involved the ubiquitous Captain Morgan pose. This pose was premeditated as part of an effort by Captain Morgan to raise brand awareness through a gorilla marketing strategy involving the participation of NFL players. While the NFL along with the other major American sports leagues vehemently oppose this as crass, underhanded marketing, I view it from a much different angle. Captain Morgan made a bold move by asking for a select group of NFL players to participate in this campaign. What gets lost in the uproar is the contributions made by Captain Morgan towards the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fun, an initiative created to raise awareness and funds for retired NFL players. Putting all the business semantics and bureaucracy aside, I thought both Captain Morgan and Celek were not in the wrong here. I think its time that a league known for its tight control and reluctance to think outside the box needs to reevaluate the way it does business. It's time for the NFL to stop being the No Fun League.