It is time for the rollout of a new batch of Christmas and holiday commercials. The long Thanksgiving weekend with its football and season specials is also the beginning of the hard push for Christmas, that and today’s black Friday sales.
There are plenty of companies vying for our business. Most of these pitches will be forgotten before we take down the lights. There are exceptions, though, the ones that tug at our heartstrings.
Personally, I miss the Clydesdales the most. Those Budweiser holiday commercials always made me sorry I don’t like beer. I want to be able to support the company that makes me smile and adds so much pleasure to the holidays. There were several versions of them over the years, and they were all touching and delightful each in their own right. They haven’t been around in a while, and as good as they were, I wonder why they don’t just rerun them.
Another huge brand that comes to mind is Coca-Cola. Coke has the famous Christmas “Teach the world to sing” that came out in the 70s. It is still an oft-cited example of an excellent advertising campaign that transcends a single season. Coke also had the adorable polar bear commercials. All in all, they have a storied history of success with warm and fuzzy Christmas time ads. I am glad to say that here at least I can pay a financial thank you since I drink my share and that of at least three other people of Diet Coke.
There are, surely, many different personal favorites. Whether they are humorous like the like the M&Ms meet Santa Claus or the Hershey Kisses ringing Jingle Bells or Folgers welcoming Johnnie home, they are all creative works of commercial art.
It is unfortunate these wonderful sentiment-inducing commercials cannot be spread throughout the year. The holidays tend to bring out some of the best of our qualities, and we would be well served to spread that kindness throughout the year.
While we often bemoan the commercialization of the season, it is still the gentlest of times. For the most part we choose family over work, and we indulge the desires of others through giving of time or presents or just a thoughtfulness that gets pushed aside during the rest of the year.
From Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day, we tend to move a bit slower and anticipate the vacation time that comes with being off work when our businesses close for the holidays. Generally, we smile a bit more, sing more often and greet people more warmly. We make it a point to cook and serve the favorite foods of family and spend time with the people we don’t see except holidays and weddings and funerals.
As we continue to see the atrocities in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world it is hard to comprehend how different our lives are from those who have chosen and are choosing to commit themselves to such a violent cause. Those news clips should remind us of how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy our freedoms to celebrate the season how and for as long as we want to.
It used to be that the Christmas season didn’t get started until after Thanksgiving. Now it seems to appear right after the Halloween costumes are in the laundry.
I used to think that was a bad thing, but if it extends our sensitivity to the season and offers up additional opportunities to help our friends and neighbors then why not? Attitude adjustment can account for how we choose to see the early reminders of the coming holidays.
So now, when we see Walmart putting out the Christmas decorations on Nov. 1 and Lowe’s filling the aisles with poinsettias and tools kits for stockings, instead of getting indignant about the early reminders, we can consider it a quality-of-life extender. Maybe lengthening the season should be viewed as a chance to prolong our enjoyment of the warmth and kindness that it can represent.
Now, if only Budweiser would hitch up those Clydesdales again …
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.