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.