Season's gratings

On the annihilation of Christmas...

So we’re nearing that most wonderful time of the year, as Andy Williams once crooned. Well, are we really? As we’ve only just reached the mid-point of November, that’s probably up for debate. Nevertheless, we are already having Christmas tinselled up and rammed down our throats from every conceivable angle, as is the case every year. Is it right or wrong? Should we get angry? Most people will have an opinion, and no doubt enough bandwidth has been devoted to such ranting. I am going to do my best to steer clear of such sanctimonious diatribe, and simply present my personal feelings about the festive period and the way it is currently presented to us.

Maybe it is because I have been living outside the UK for three years, and so this is the first time since 2009 that I have witnessed the full Christmas build-up here, but I have really been struck by the sheer quantity of Christmas-related TV advertising. Sleigh bell-infused backing tracks began jingling in October, and from 1^st November seemed to be present in the massive majority of commercials. Supermarkets are offering discount deals on the ‘Big Christmas Shop’, getting us slavering over what may await us on the festive table come late December (lobster from Lidl, anyone?) One of the ‘Big Four’ have even gone as far as safely conveying a serviceman father home to his surprised and delighted family – it seems we can get more than we ever imagined with home delivery these days. The high street of course is also getting itself into gear. As with TV, I started noticing Christmassy items on shelves in October but the displays have been markedly moving front-and-centre during the first few weeks of this month.

What I find even more bewildering than the quantity of advertising is the level of scrutiny and importance being placed on certain commercials. I am referring particularly to those for Marks&Spencer and John Lewis. M&S have gone for something gothic that could easily be a trailer for the latest Tim Burton film – indeed Helena Bonham Carter pitches up at the end – which has been described by the Huffington Post as “quite bizarre and slightly scary.” John Lewis meanwhile have ratcheted up the schmaltz to levels more puke-inducing than a dodgy turkey sandwich on 30^th December. It’s Watership Down in two minutes, boringly missing the death and destruction, culminating in a bear being woken from hibernation, which is probably not a great idea from a health and safety point of view. Could it in fact be a subversive comment on global warming from a right-on advertiser? It’s a fun thought. Whatever the pitch, these spots seem to be carrying the weight of the business world on their fake snow-dusted shoulders. M&S’s focus on fashion is seen as their ticket to recovery according to Jess Cartner-Morley in The Guardian, while TheTelegraph’s Harry Wallop describes the importance of the John Lewis ad while also noting the predictably enormous amounts of money being spent by retailers on their seasonal campaigns. As well all available airtime being devoted to Christmas promotion, an incredible quantity of column inches are being given over to the dissection of this promotion. The world may finally have gone completely mad.

Another point I find interesting to consider is one of stamina. Do these campaigns, starting so far out from the day itself, have the legs to carry that seasonal feeling all the way through the festive period? Among the youngest generations, probably yes. But the older and more cynical among us surely feel completely jaded by the whole affair by the time old Saint Nick does his annual rounds. Try actually working in retail; I still vividly remember from my time in the sector the joy-kill of having to stay after closing time on Christmas Eve to take down all vestiges of the season to ensure everything was right and ready for opening on Boxing Day. Does the quantity and length of exposure to Christmas make the day more or less special or enjoyable? I believe that equally for those who love it and those who don’t, it probably doesn’t really make that much difference.

Of course the primary purpose of the advertising is to influence what we buy, which it undoubtedly does. But combined with the stamina aspect, this is the next negative feature of the whole experience: the pressure people feel or are made to feel to shop, and shop extravagantly. As well as the bigger-than-ever advertising campaigns, we are also being subjected to far more news stories about the current ‘Wonga economy’ (copyright Ed Miliband, 2013), being as it is a media flavour of the year, and especially relevant in this period as less well off families seek to provide the Christmas their children demand. There seems to be very little prospect of this cycle of advertising, demand and debt being broken. Only a complete change of mentality on the part of consumers can do that, and even that could have wider negative implications, potentially leading to further shrinking of the economy for example. How much to engage with festivities, how much and what to buy should be personal choices, but I can appreciate that for parents of young children in particular, the pressure created by advertising must leaving them feel like they have very little choice other than to spend spend spend, most likely well beyond their means.

It’s very easy for me to pontificate and be condescending towards people who engage in an orgy of consumerism at Christmas. I have no dependents or commitments, and I find as I get older that I’m becoming more and more anti-materialistic. Like most people I have been and no doubt continue to be the recipient of some right old tat at Christmas, occasionally to the point where I actually find it quite offensive. No doubt you will find that an incredibly harsh and unreasonable statement; these well-meaning friends and relatives are just showing they care about me and are thinking of me. Fair enough, I agree, but how much thought really needs to go into picking up a novelty book, game or an arbitrary item of clothing? To me it’s a waste of money. I would infinitely rather receive a letter updating me on their news than yet another collection of hilarious cricket jokes or the like. If they insist on spending money, I’d rather it just went to charity – the people of the Philippines for example currently have far more need of a few quid or some new threads than I do.

But that’s just me, and I know that for many Christmas is a big deal. Why it’s a big deal is another question entirely; it’s not as though we are a devout, church-going nation anymore. In fact I feel quite sorry in many ways for those of a religious bent for who it’s a genuinely significant occasion. To me Christmas is a nice opportunity to spend some time with family, lock the door, turn off the phone, and get the Monopoly out. Anything else surrounding it as far as I’m concerned has simply been ruined by the cynical commercialism that invades every waking hour in this most profitable of financial quarters. Here is my (pre-)Christmas message: