Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. The food, the decorations, the weather, the movies … Truly, there is nothing more appealing to me than curling up by the light of my Christmas tree with a cup of hot cocoa to watch a Christmas classic after a day traipsing through the snow.
With such a love for the season, you’d think I’d be psyched by the emergence of holiday ads and décor online and in stores.
You’d think that. But you’d be wrong.
See, as much as I love Christmas, I still like other seasons and holidays. I think fall weather is just lovely. Thanksgiving is my second-favorite holiday. But this year, once stores had milked every trick and treat out of Halloween, they jumped straight into Black Friday sales. Why? Because Christmas is coming.
Forget about Thanksgiving, they seemed to say. You’ve gotta be ready for Christmas. Your gifts need to be perfect. You’ll need to buy any decorations necessary to win that neighborhood Christmas-light contest. And we have all the deals and sales you could want to make those dreams come true.
I felt like Thanksgiving—which, for me, has always felt like a time to reflect upon the year and be thankful for what I have—was steamrolled by Black Friday. And that sense of thanklessness really rubbed me the wrong way.
And it got me thinking: How long will it be before Christmas itself is steamrolled by holiday ads?
I’m sure it won’t happen. After all, many ad campaigns are built around Christmas. It would be hard to completely wash away the holiday without washing away the opportunity to sell us stuff, too. And I’m not saying the ads are all bad, either: Sales make things that we normally couldn’t afford more affordable. Ads give us ideas for how to make the holidays just a little extra special.
But I long for the days when I could open up my email without seeing ads for 50 different stores trying to sell me stuff for Christmas. I miss the times when opening up social media meant seeing pictures of family and friends celebrating the holidays—instead of scrolling through videos and ads for junk that’s on sale.
I wish that Christmas wasn’t so commercialized. But since I have absolutely zero say in the matter, I’ll just leave you with this little limerick:
As you scroll through your emails, Facebook and TikTok,
And you see sales with folks lined up around the block,
Forget the gift-getting zeitgeist:
Instead, remember Jesus Christ.
And ignore those screen-based ads in which you put stock.
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