should shops be allowed to advertise Christmas so early in the year ?

Question

every year they seem to advertise christmas earlier and earlier.... this year i saw the first tv advert for christmas in AUGUST !!! i'm not relegious, but in my opinion, this commercialised version of christmas has got totally out of hand. it's like there is a 3 month build-up before the main event ! first of all, the christians stole the whole christmas festival from the pagans, and now the big corporate businesses have practically taken it away from the christians..... i have a four year old son who has already discovered 'pester power', thanks to all the adverts on tv for toys, no wonder the kids today are so obsessed with having the latest toy / game / clothes. i think that they should not be allowed to show christmas adverts on tv until november at the earliest - what are your views ?

Answer 1

I absolutely agree; Christmas seems to start earlier every year & it is all oriented towards to getting people, especially parents of young children, to spend more & more - often more than they can afford. It takes away from the anticipation of Christmas & it is completely devorced from what Christmas should be about. It takes strength of will to take a stand against the commercialism, but if enough of us do perhaps things might change. Happy Christmas, anyway to you & your son.

Answer 2

Before I go on, I am not a religious one either but I do believe they have taken this away from religion to make maximum profit.

And I agree with you as this is actually something that I have encouraged my family and friends to get away from. Do we really need a day where we should exchange gifts? The problem is that people do these things because they feel that they have to and nobody wants to look like the cheap person who didn't get anybody anything for Christmas.

In the end, the cooperate business couldn't care less as they take more money from your pockets to line up some big wigs at the top of the chain. Even during the holiday's you can't go anywhere without seeing Santa. He is advertising for everything. So Chris Kringle is an advertiser now? When did that become part of Christmas?


And how about all the other holiday's that came about? Some of these are down right silly. And some one on a cooperate level took someone's idea and decided to market into something completely more then it was. That's the way it is anymore, plain and simple.

Another current example would be to look at the baseball season. Does anyone remember a time when they were younger that the World Series was taking place at the end of October? Why, it’s all about money anymore. Who cares about who really wins the World Series. We as fans do, but they make us wait so long for it, to drag more money out of us. That is how the world works and it's really sad.

Companies buying out companies to which monopoly will begin to happen in many industries and it's started all ready. The season's will be dragged out longer and longer, to drag out our check books and there is going to be a point to where it all has to start going backwards because they can only do this so much to us.

So to fully answer your question, yes I do believe that they should wait to advertise. I had always believed that they should start after Thanksgiving. But what do I know.

Sorry for all the tangents but maybe by reading this people will think twice this year about giving in so much.

Oh and one more thing, I guess one might feel that if we don't give in to what they want us to do, the economy will go bad. Maybe it will slow down for a bit, but eventually they would have to come up with a new marketing strategy and make them realize that quality is better then quantity.

Answer 3

I think the commercialism of it all has worn the magic off for us poor parents! Ads for kids toys should be shown after the watershed until at least November. A work colleague, having the same moan to her adult daughter, had it pointed out that there were only 2 paydays until Christmas! When you put it that way, it makes some sense to start early rather than struggling to pay for everything and getting into debt. A better option may be to cut back, set absolute limits or buy presents that support charities for adults who don't actually need material things.

Answer 4

Although i feel Halloween is an Americanized festival, i do feel that if we are going to have it then for goodness sake get it out of the way before the Christmas stuff is displayed. Its bizarre nowadays - you can go into a shop and see chocolate rabbits and stuff marked down in price left over from Easter, a display of Halloween stuff well to the front, and the aisles lined with Christmas cards, advent calendars and all the that!

Kids cant know WHAT time of year it is!

Answer 5

The Christmas season, for many businesses, is the time of year that either make them or break them financially. They want to be the first one "out of the gates" to make every dollar possible. Look at how many businesses close after Christmas. I am not saying that I agree with such early marketing, but I can appreciate why they do it.

Answer 6

Noooo they should not.... we are losing the religious significance of the xmas holidays. End of October to November is fine, September is pushing it but August that really is taking the piss. Xmas is turning into a big profit making scheme and its not even for charity. I think a tax should be imposed so any shops who advertise xmas to early must give 40% of the profits made to charity.

Answer 7

Hi. I really feel sorry for you mums with young children,I agree with you the shops start much to early for christmas,the kids see all these toys
there's the adverts on tv,much to early.

Answer 8

commerce doesnt care about christmas all it cares about is profit. it is disgusting how they prey on customers so early on in the year. spare a thought for the people who have to work in toy stores, kids running amok and having jingle bells blasted non stop for weeks before hand. i used to run a warehouse in a cash and carry, from august to october i had to unload 40 40 foot containers of chinese xmas tacky junk and do a goods in on every single item. all on my own for minimum wage.

Answer 9

"Allowed"? Who do you propose should stop them? Is there nothing in the world that you can't handle on your own? Is it absolutley necessary that you expose your child to things you don't want him exposed to? Is that my fault? The fault of government?

Does the word "totalitarian" ring a bell? No? How about "freedom of speech"?

Look, if you don't like what a store is doing, stay away.

Answer 10

i hate they way we have come to expect xmas to be celebrated!if i want a (whatever) then i would go and buy it for myself!i hate receiving 'tat'..i honestly think if we were supposed to celebrate it the way the shops want us to, then xmas will cease to exsist in the future as our kids are not going to want to spend the amazing fortunes that our generation spend at present. xmas shoul dbe celebrated in church without pressies!