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Thou shall never miss a $ale
Thou shall never miss a $ale!
It's cold outside, the traffic is heavy, the stores are packed with pushy people and Christmas music, and the news is dominated by stories about - what else? - shopping. It's that time of the year again: The Annual Holiday-Themed Mass Consumption Month!
Actually, that's not exactly correct. It used to be just a month, but every year the Christmas shopping season is stretched a bit further to boost sales. I clearly recall hearing Christmas music playing at the malls in Singapore, but also in Germany before November. That makes the Christmas shopping season stretch over a full two months - one sixth of a year.
If you think about it, it's truly remarkable how we, the oh-so enlightened and modern people in the capitalist world, are driven into a buying frenzy. The Christmas music is usually the first sign. Malls and stores will begin playing the music earlier every year, tricking the shoppers into thinking that the holiday season is quickly approaching. Besides that, it is scientifically proven that background music affects shopping habits.
Have you ever wondered what the "Christmas spirit" really is? It is a mindset that has been created by clever marketing over the last few decades. It has been handled so expertly that companies can now advertise their products and spread sappy messages about how Christmas isn't about presents at the same time!
The Christmas lights, the endlessly repeating music, 'Photos with Santa', and storewide sales are all parts of the Christmas spirit, and all of them are intended to attract customers and entice them to buy more than they ever have in the past.
One of the lesser-known forces in driving sales is the televised news. For the last week or so, news channels here and probably elsewhere as well have featured numerous stories about how pre-christmas season is expected to be the busiest shopping time of the year, as always. From now until Christmas, much of the news will be about….shopping.
Shopping? How is shopping news? It's just a bunch of reporters at crowded stores saying the same thing: "It's really crowded here today because people are rushing to buy gifts for Christmas." Wow, thanks for the newsflash.
As far back as I can remember, there has only been one holiday shopping-related story worthy of the news: When a woman was knocked unconcious and trampled all over by a horde of mesmerized individuals that quickly approached the doors of a Wal-Mart to grab US$30 DVD players in Orange City. That should have been yet another sign that the Christmas consumerism has gone too far, but then the situation didn't really change.
The stores are obviously in control of the consumers. With an arsenal consisting of commercials, the entertainment industry, the televised media, and a psychologically designed shopping atmosphere, it's no mystery why people are continually willing and are (almost) desperate to buy more stuff every year, no matter how they are doing economically. And not to mention all the environmental damage being done due to the Christmas season - waste of electricity, packaging, all the cars stuck in jams in the city centre and so on.
"Most people can agree on what Santa Claus looks like -- jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. But he did not always look that way, and Coca-Cola advertising actually helped shape this modern day image of Santa."
- TheCoca-ColaCompany.Com
~GlobalPeace&Solidarity~
