Maybe a small rant. Mostly because I already detest Best Buy and really have no interest in purchasing their over-priced electronics. I’m also pretty done with the poor customer service and the general obnoxiousness of Christmas shopping. To wit, the absurdity of the Black Friday insanity. Disgusting displays of man’s inhumanity to man.
It started when we stopped wishing each other Merry Christmas.
I’m only half-serious about that statement. The serious half wants to know…when did this happen? Look, I’m not even going to make this about religion. Christ has always been in my Christmas, although I admit there were sad years when he wasn’t getting the attention he deserved.
But this rant is about Santa…we’ve already effectively taken Christ out of Christmas. In fact, we’ve taken God out of just about everything. Marriage. School. Thanksgiving. Our currency.
Why wouldn’t a snarky ad campaign dissing Santa be game?
There’s a lot to criticize. There’s the whole treatment of Santa, for one. As a cultural icon, he’s representative of a number of virtues. We could get into the whole origins story with St. Nicholas, but let’s keep it simple. Santa, he of the reindeer and North Pole and friendly elves. He’s a good guy. He works tirelessly to spread joy.
And those good guys… They get picked on. Discredited. Ridiculed. Crucified. (oops. I forgot I was keeping this about Santa)
It’s open season in our culture to laugh at and ridicule the very values that have made this society great. It’s shameful, especially when it happens from the top, down. Did you happen to see the mockery our president made of the annual turkey pardon on Thanksgiving? Oh sure, it was edgy and funny. It’s only a turkey. Or is it?
Here’s the thing. I really don’t care about Santa. Not really. And I don’t care about a turkey getting pardoned or not. But I do care about the bigger picture, whether it’s a myth about goodness and generosity or a symbol of the nation. When both of those can come under fire, we’re doing it wrong as a culture.
thought provoking, a good post.
I don’t find the Best Buy Santa ad offensive. But I don’t think it’s very funny, either.
I remember going to Best Buy a couple years ago during a busy Christian season night. I was annoyed that those who paid with cash (paper money) had to go to a special line and wait longer while those paying with plastic whizzed through. That was a turn-off.
I especially dislike the way the mom is portrayed, but that would have been a full-blown rant. Interesting you used the word offended. I don’t think it offends me, either, but I definitely don’t like it enough to be turned off by it and not purchase anything from Best Buy, but I already have that bias that on any given day the customer service is about on par with Bank of America, which also annoys me. The add is stupid. Not stupid like I think a lot of the crass humor like Jackass is stupid, more like stupid because it lacks any cleverness and finesse. I don’t think the humor that denigrates others or is mean in nature is funny — yet a self-deprecating Santa who shopped at Best Buy to improve his game might have made me smile. And it was mean-spirited.
Santa represents something better than commercialism. A sentimental idea, I suppose, but an idea that doesn’t deserve the kind of mean spirited cynicism represented by Best Buy.
exactly!
Well… I’m not sure if we’re talking about the same ad, but the one with the big screen tv is awesome, in my opinion. The look on Santa’s face when he sees the cheetah attacking the other animal is priceless. I laugh outloud every time I see it. So, there it is. I like the Best Buy commercials. Would I buy anything from BB? No. Duh.
In view of your feelings about Black Friday, etc., I think you will like this song.