This Week in the Mercury
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Religion Huzzah! A New Victory in the "War on Christmas"!
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Just in time for the biggest shopping day of the year, numbnuts Christian group the American Family Association is suspending its boycott of Gap in support of the chain store's decision to air a "pro-Christmas ad" this Saturday. The AFA explains it's bold decision in a press release today:
Gap's Vice-President of Corporate Communications, Bill Chandler, informed the AFA via email that Old Navy's new commercial "has a very strong Christmas theme."Added Buddy Smith, the executive assistant to Tim Wildmon, the president of AFA, "Gap cheapened the meaning of this holy day in their most recent commercial by putting it on the same level as Kwanzaa and the winter solstice. But, because of the importance of Christ's influence on the world in general and America in particular, celebrating His birth should be in a class all by itself. We are pleased that Gap is apparently beginning to agree."
AFA officials made it clear that the boycott may be resumed if the new ad is not respectful to Christians and Christmas shoppers.
Apparently the AFA's beef with Gap started a mere week ago when the brand launched the catchy commercial jingle:
Go Christmas, Go Hanukkah, Go Kwanza, Go Solstice.
Go classic tree, go plastic tree, go plant a tree, go add a tree,
You 86 the rules, you do what feels just right.
Happy do whatever you wanukkah, and to all a cheery night.
In response to this outrageous request for a "cheery night," the AFA screeched: "Did you notice it? Gap compares Christmas to the pagan holiday called "Solstice." Solstice is celebrated by Wiccans who practice witchcraft!" (emphasis theirs)
So did Gap really cave to the demands of anti-Kwanza whackos or is it maybe, just maybe, that the Gap airing a pro-Christmas ad this weekend because the true meaning of Christmas is shopping at the Gap?
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i'm pissed they left out festivus. i guess it's just for the rest of us.
Kwanza is kind of a bullshit holiday.
However, solstice has a very specific astronomical and seasonal definition. I guess these ass-hats are belaboring under a pre-Copernican model of the universe.
Sheeit. As long as people keep caving to silly shit like this, bedwetters just gonna keep on wettin' their beds. Seriously Gap: you could do without this particular demographic.
Celebrate "40%-of-the-American-Retail-Economy-Depends-on-this-Season" Season.
Our modern Christmas is based on the pagan solstice holiday. Early Christians who encountered it in Britain couldn't kill the pagan celebration, so they co-opted it, claiming it was really about Christ's birthday.
No one knows when during the year Jesus' birthday actually was. Could have been the height of summer.
Don't things like yule logs and bringing a tree into the house and whatnot strike any of these "family groups" as a bit pagan? What does a decorated pine tree have to do with the Bible?
As if we needed more proof: religious fundamentalists are stupid.
I think it probably takes more than a week to get a commercial together and get ad time and everything yeah?
I actually agree with Blabby on something.
I'm going to wash my eyes out now.
I love how they get Old Navy and the Gap confused in their press release. (I do the same thing.)
blah blah blah, fuck god in the face
They need to post an ad with baby jesus sitting on santa's lap. Now that would be sweet.
At DISH Network, we're definitely not afraid to wish everyone a merry Christmas! We encourage you to check out our latest commercial spot and celebrate Christmas right along with our employees! http://bit.ly/7fWh9p
http://www.gapinc.com/public/Media/Press_R…
The Gap did not cave. They announced that a Christmas commercial that has been in development for quite a while (since before the AFA started screeching) is being released this weekend. In the press release where this was announced they chided AFA for it's misleading campaign. The AFA is trying to spin it like they had were twisting the Gap's arm, and they finally cried "Uncle" but that is not the case.
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