The Reason For The Season

Thanksgiving is over, we’re still working on those leftovers, and the holidays have kicked into high gear. Of course, one might say they started before Halloween, and good old Santa slipped into the mall in early November, but now they’re here with a vengeance as shoppers line up at 3:00 AM to get bargains, and holiday commercials bombard us with their versions of the “Reason for the Season”.

I don’t want to sound like a female version of Andy Rooney, but I hate the commercials that try to make us believe that what ever it is they’re promoting is the answer to everyone’s happiness during this special time of year.

One commercial that makes my hackles rise every time I see it is the Illinois State Lottery Holiday Instant Ticket promotion. Mixed among the beautiful traditional seasonal images is the message that the holidays are all about giving and receiving lottery tickets. They actually say, “This is what it’s all about.” Then they tell us to, “Give the gift you hope they return.” Ick!

That annoys me on several levels.

They’re subliminally telling us that the sole reason for Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, take your pick, is about getting gifts by giving gifts. And coincidently, while we’re showing our love of family and friends by hoping they give us stuff, we can immerse ourselves in the spiritual experience of gambling with lottery tickets.

The “Box” store commercials try to convince us that the holidays are all about spending our money with them. Drop a load of cash at their store and our celebrations will be perfect.

There’s a band called “The Yoopers” from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the manic commercials from all the big “Box” stores reminds me of a song on one of their Christmas CDs. They sing, “We celebrate the Savior’s birth by spending all our dough.” Can everyone say, “Amen”?

Then there are the car commercials. Yeah, everyone I know gets cars for Christmas.
One has a choir singing “Hark How the Bells” using only the word Duh. I guess the point of that is that their vehicle is the obvious Christmas gifting choice.

Another luxury automotive brand suggests that you hurry down to your nearest dealer so that you can have the car decked out with bows in time for the holidays. That, of course, is the key to happiness this season.

Am I the only one that finds that a little pretentious?

I think I’ll try to find other reasons besides lottery tickets, cars, and loads of box store stuff as my answer to happiness his holiday season. I’ll start by pondering the real “Reason of the Season”. How about you?