Kmart is the winner in the race for Christmas goodies!

It seems odd to me that I have not even picked up the makings of pumpkin pie yet and we are getting hit with ads for Christmas shopping already. When I first saw the ad a couple of weeks ago it was still 2 months away, or should I say lay away. Kmart, I believe is the only store left that does lay away – or at least they are the only ones who advertise that they do. They are using the same tired commmercial from last year but... Seems the apex of Christmas now is what they call Black Friday, whatever that means. I know it is the day after thanksgiving and that most retailers make most of their annual profits during that time. I know and understand the need for them to bombard us with advertisements enticing us to visit their store and spend, spend, spend. Well this year, I fear, will be an abysmal one for the retailers. Why, because it has been an abysmal year for us consumers. We have no money and for nearly 30 million Americans there is not even a job. It seems to me that retailers are mocking us, mocking us with advertisings of holiday cheer. In all actuality, probably more folks have little to none of the holiday cheer this year.

Seems somehow in our society we have completely forgotten what Christmas is all about. It really had nothing to do with how much crap we can buy each other, it had nothing to do with the endless Christmas specials on television, although I love the 24 hour run of “A Christmas Story” on TNT. It is not about the fabulous parades through Manhattan and it is not about Rudolph and his merry band of reindeer friends. It is not about stories of a fat man who sneaks into our houses through the chimney. Christmas is about the birth of Christ. I am not sure how, over the years, it has been high jacked and turned into the biggest display of consumerism in the world. I suppose the advertising firms have had a little to do with that, folks like, Don Draper, from the AMC Network’s hit show, Mad Men. It makes me wonder, what is Christmas, really? Christmas in modern America has far more to do with materialism and consumerism than anything else. I think there are many meanings to the season ranging from traditional meanings to religious meanings, but I am almost convinced there is no real meaning anymore. The meaning of Christmas is, and should be, whatever people celebrating decide to assign to it. If folks decide to give it a religious meaning, it will be a religious holiday for them. If other folks assign to the day other meanings, such as gifts and family getting together then it will have those meanings instead. And I think either one is fine.

The process of removing the religious meanings began a long time ago and I am convinced it is too late to turn back the clock now. Things like trees and lights and gifts, and everything else that are attached to it now are far more a part of the Christmas traditions than any of the religious meanings. The earliest reference to being encouraged to spend, spend, spend at Christmas time was, surprisingly enough, from the US government. The image below is based upon a World War II poster encouraging soldiers to buy war bonds as Christmas gifts, but here it has been doctored up. Santa is holding up a "past due" bill notice which seems very appropriate to how people have been indoctrinated to spend, spend, spend during the holidays with no real understanding of what happens if one of the family members becomes unemployed, or underemployed.

The real message that is beaten into us, from a very young age, is to buy, spend, and consume, it is all about economics and has little to do really with anything religious or Christian, other than we can buy manger scenes with a little fiberglass baby Jesus. What is wrong with that picture?

One of the things I hate the most during this time of year are the endless advertising for diamonds. When did they become forever is one question that has not been sufficiently explained to me. Those stupid commercials are designed to make a husband feel like crap if he cannot provide his bride a stunning array of diamond jewelry. They are well designed and very targeted, the older I get the more they seem to be speaking directly to me. The older we get the more affluent we are supposed to be so the ads are targeted specifically for us. Every kiss begins with Kay my ass! I have had A LOT of kisses and never once did they begin with Kay, they may very well end with Kay but rarely do they begin with Kay. How many of you folks have ever bought a car and put a bow on it for the bride at Christmas? If we are to believe the hype, that is a pretty normal thing to have happen. Yeah right, what world do they live in. There are the same targeted advertisements for Bride as well, all manner of the latest and greatest power tools that no man could possibly do without. I know a lot of people who quite frankly should not have or be allowed to play with power tools. And I mean come on, how often is a typical homeowner going to need a 24 volt 200 dollar cordless drill motor?

This Christmas season I think we will be inundated, with retailers most likely freaking out about lackluster profits which will force them, undoubtedly, to pour a ton of money into this, their most profitable time of the year. I think they would be better off not spending all that money, not many people have extra money to spend right now. I know the recession is over, I saw it on TV, but for us normal folk, it aint over and I do not think the fat lady has even started to warm up yet. According the United States Department of labor web site the national unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, up 0.1 percentage point from August and 3.6 points from September 2008 so I think Christmas will be a hard sell this year. Keep your eyes open for some very creative ads, ones that will pull on your heartstrings and make you feel absolutely guilty if you do not provide your loved ones with whatever they are hocking. I suppose Kmart is not so bad in the grand scheme, by advertising the layaway program they are encouraging folks to stop spending money they do not have. I guess for me, for so many reasons, it is like my friend Tom said in his blog, Everything about the holiday has become mundanely predictable.