RWRetailWire
Back to Discussions
DISCUSSION

Retailers have never declared war on Christmas — ever

Written by George Anderson

[Commentary]

Death and taxes are not the only certainties in life. You can also add the annual claim by some that retailers — those pursuers of all things controversial — are waging a war on Christmas. The latest example is a campaign started by Joshua Feuerstein, a self-described "American evangelist, internet and social media personality," against Starbucks for its decision to go with coffee cups that contain only its green logo against a plain, red background.

According to Mr. Feuerstein, Starbucks made the decision to change the design this year because it "wanted to take Christ and Christmas" off of its cups. Now, for clarification purposes, Starbucks has not used religious imagery on its cups in the past. It has used reindeer, snowmen and other wintery symbols, but nothing involving a religious connection to the Christmas holiday — say a babe in a manger, a star in the sky, shepherds, wise men, etc.

Mr. Feuerstein has also taken umbrage at baristas not wishing him a merry Christmas in early November. He decided that he would address that issue by giving his name as "Merry Christmas" when asked by a barista so that when his order was ready everyone in the store would hear the seasonal greeting loud and clear.

Starbucks red holiday cups
Photo: Starbucks

While there's no doubt that Mr. Feuerstein has the support of like-minded people, it is also true that his rant against political correctness has sparked a reaction by others fed up with those who look for every opportunity to dispute anything that may be PC motivated.

According to research by Amobee Brand Intelligence, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, there were 40,455 tweets on Twitter related to Mr. Feuerstein's #MerryChristmasStarbucks campaign. Sixty-seven percent contained negative sentiments, although only 17 percent directed their negativity toward Starbucks. Most were not buying what Mr. Feuerstein was peddling.

Christmas is precious to millions throughout the world, but the desire to preserve the holiday has led to a breakdown in logical thinking. Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

  1. Images such as snowmen and reindeer have nothing to do with the religious underpinnings of Christmas. Those taking offense at those images being left off coffee cups or anything else are simply looking to create a controversy where none exists.
  2. The term "happy holidays" has to do with the period of time between Thanksgiving and New Year's and is not a slight of Christmas.
  3. Every Christian faith promotes the individual relationship that its followers have with Jesus. It is only by turning one's back on that relationship that Christ can be taken out of Christmas.

 

Discussion Thread0