With the holiday season coming up, there as been a lot of advertising. This really got me thinking about our society. What is the definition of too much commercialization? Stores such as Walmart and Superstore immediately put their Christmas decorations up the day after Halloween! What does this say about our community?
The holiday season is supposed to be about whom you spend it with, a time to remember friends and family. It is a time to be grateful for what you have and to help out those less fortunate. To light the menorah with family, to adorn the Christmas tree in decorations and strings of lights, to spend time with friends who have been far away. These are the memories that will stay with us. Holidays should have nothing to do with advertising and sales. Holidays have been so commercialized since the invention of the television that people are starting to associate them with sales and gimmicks.
This may be an old-fashioned sentiment, but what happened to “It’s the thought that counts”? There is nothing wrong with the desire to do something nice for your family and your friends. This inclination is a reflection of the feelings for that particular person on any given day of the year. However, the media is making it seem like without an expensive gift, the holiday isn’t as memorable. An expensive gift is not the only way to demonstrate affection, despite the claims of many advertisements. The media is placing a price on the holidays when really it should be about family and friends. The commercialization of the holiday season is overwhelming, to say the least. For example, Christmas used to be all about giving without any ulterior motives. Now as a result of all the advertising, most people think that the joy of the holiday comes out of the gifts. The media is giving people unrealistic expectations of holidays. It tries to tell the public that without buying the most expensive gifts, most expensive christmas trees, food or clothes your holiday season will not be memorable. They make gift buying seem like an obligation and it makes holidays become all about the presents and not family.
Advertising aims to present a product in the best light possible and make the public feel like it is a necessity so they will purchase it. It morphs the holiday to be all about the materialistic values. This misrepresentation gives people the false impressions that without the presents life is meaningless. Therefore basing the holiday on materialistic objects and removing the initial values. Without the true values of the holiday the true spirit and meaning will vanish. Advertising is simply just taking over our lives. So this holiday season, instead of looking forward to all the presents you receive, go celebrate the true meaning of the holidays.
