Bah Humbug!
Why Holidays Have Become Less About The Day Itself And More About The Capitalistic Hell That Is Constant Consumption
This is unlike me, but I’d like to set the tone with a quote that I think generally sums up the way in which I feel toward the rampant commercialization of holidays.
Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.
— Fight Club
It’s a poignant quote that I think still rings true to this day (perhaps sadly even more so). Consumerism is a silent machine which works near constantly in the background. And I think about it every time the end-of-year holiday season comes around.
It’s That Time of Year Again
Ads are once again plastered every which way for helping you find the “perfect gift.” It seems that the days of simple family time and quiet observation of holidays are gone, and in its place are the days of rampant, unfettered consumerism. The perfect gift should be a happy, healthy family atmosphere and spending time with loved ones, not the newest gadgets.
When I picture the holiday season, it used to be through the frame of a wintry window, fogged up and glowing in the light of a dancing fire from the hearth. There was family and joy and cheer. These days, it feels like a financial struggle to have holidays. And why is that? The holidays should never have descended to a point where people are concerned about finances this much and that each year every company eagerly awaits Q4 financial reports.
The holidays have become less about celebration of the day, less about family, and more about commercialization and political division (perhaps best saved for a future piece). Santa Claus is in the malls now to help get us there too so we can spend all of our money on Black Friday deals right after the majority of people in North America are done giving thanks for what we have and being grateful.
In Canada, it’s a month, and in America, it’s the next day that we are reminded to be greedy, self-serving, and that comparison should steal our joy. But how did we get here? And why?
I’d like to figure out why holidays have become so synonymous with spending a dumb amount of money. I think Thanksgiving is the only major holiday not commercialized in such a manner. But Easter? Christmas? Halloween? Valentine’s Day? Basically, all the major holidays in North America (where I live) have become a consumerism nightmare.
Stores bounce from one seasonal display to the next in a hurry to capitalize on some desire to remain ahead of the trend.
The spirit of many holidays has been overshadowed by consumerism and a relentless pursuit of profit. This essay will explore the shifting reality of the holiday season, perhaps why this shift occurred, and what the consequences seem to be for individuals and society.
Even birthdays have seemingly fallen victim to the idea of monetary value over emotional value.
I guess grab a cup of eggnog and a flyer for your favourite store’s Black Friday/Boxing Day deals, and let’s get to it.
What’s In A Holiday Anyway?
Observances
Christmas, as a holiday, is one of the pinnacle (please note, again, I am talking about Western holidays as that is what I am most familiar with) holidays of the entire calendar year. It is the quintessential holiday when people in North America speak generally about “the holiday season.” Regarding the day itself, it is a Christian feast to celebrate the birth of Jesus and/or the winter solstice.
Of course, gift giving has always been one of the key traditions of Christmas. Gift giving may have been a very common practice for old celebrations of the winter solstice to coincide with the feasts, and Christianity took these rituals as well, as seen with the Three Wise Men also bringing the infant Jesus gifts.
Now, Easter is a holiday which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus and coincides with other holidays around the beginning of the springtime and is preceded by Lent. Gift giving, egg hunting, and chocolates on Easter as a tradition trace back to early traditions of giving eggs as a sign of rebirth after the Lent season.
Valentine’s Day in the west falls on the 14th of February and is a romantic feast holiday honoring Saint Valentine. While not a public holiday in any country, it is a major holiday in our hearts. It is a time to celebrate our romantic lovers and exchange gifts with them.
Then comes Thanksgiving (both of them in Canada and USA). In America, Thanksgiving is a fall harvest feast to celebrate the Pilgrims’ first successful harvest. In Canada, the fall harvest feast has its roots in European settlers’ harvest celebrations and successful voyages. Each have become a day of greater and broader thankfulness and gratitude than strictly thanking the harvests.
You may ask why these origins are important, but it’s important to remember that these days came about as celebration and a time for community, often religious in nature. And, in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, these holidays, once pure and full of meaning, began to hollow out and become more about spending money and driving profits.
Commercialize
I hate to quote a psychopath, but “the Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster…” is an adequate critique of the way capitalistic greed has overcome large swaths of society. And, in this essay, we are looking only at holidays, but you can extrapolate.
The growth of the middle class from the boom of the Industrial Revolution caused a blossoming of spending power. It is true, generally, that early capitalism lifted a great number of people out of poverty. The middle class grew on the back of efficient mass production and effective capital.
More goods, cheaper goods. More jobs, more people paid well enough to buy the goods. Retailers saw the new potential for profit at some point along the way and began to reframe holidays as opportunities to sell more products, thereby corrupting the values of those same holidays.
Holiday shopping coincided too perfectly with the tradition of gift giving. Once based on personal and thoughtful exchanges, gifts have increasingly become commercialized and less personalized. With the rise of department stores, it became evident that this was where holiday gifts would end up. Mass-produced gifts with a focus on monetary value over sentimental value.
And if that wasn’t already bad enough, the retailers then began a trend of holiday-specific marketing. Perhaps the most well-know marketing campaign is Coca-Cola’s early Santa Claus advertising campaigns from the 1930s in which Old Saint Nick would be drawn with a crisp bottle of Coca-Cola in hand.
Further, as we will discuss, the invention of what I can only call consumerism holidays, Black Friday and Boxing Day further exasperated the issue of consumerism and profit-driven holiday marketing schemes.
The Capitalistic Takeover
Advertising’s Role
One of the things not mentioned in my business ethics course’s unit on advertising was about holiday marketing, but it ought to have been mentioned. I feel holiday marketing is not just selling us on products but on an idealized version of the holiday itself – the entire experience as it were – and it is an idealized version from the point of view of a retailer, which means it revolves around consumer goods, not traditional holiday values like togetherness and meaningful connection.
The pervasive style of marketing around the holidays has grown more tiresome to deal with because of modern advertising’s omnipresence in our daily lives. You cannot escape advertising when it is everywhere, reminding us about how our Christmas season should look — that is, with expensive gifts and endless decorations.
The image of a “perfect Christmas” now features luxury gifts and an abundance of decor and food. The image of Valentine’s day is roses and chocolates and diamonds. The image of Easter is bountiful chocolate and decor. And all of these images were painted by multinational corporations as a play on our sentimental desires. The ethics of this can be discussed at lengths, of course, and I will not do so here.
As highlighted in my opening quote, the media has us chasing shit we do not need. Television, movies, and social media portray the holidays as times of excess and places an emphasis on the material rather than the emotional or spiritual. I think it is easy enough to see in the traditional, cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies wherein the perfect holiday means buying and receiving extravagant gifts and being surrounded in more decor than you could ever need. M
Further, I don’t think it’s far-fetched to say that these marketing campaigns can leave us feeling left out if we cannot attain the degree of financial outlay the idealized versions require. Is there something wrong with us if we cannot afford diamonds or the latest XYZ gadget to give to a loved one? Should we be looked down upon for that especially during a time meant to be set aside for reconnecting with loved ones over a feast?
Advertising has only led to more and more shopping days in the year too. Retailers are still — and always have been — looking for ways to make us spend more of our money. This is a power creep we examine next.
The Power Creep of Shopping Season
The antithesis to holidays is the shopping day in my mind, and over the last, let’s say half century or so, we have seen the encroachment of shopping days into the holiday season. These are specific days designed around sales and are specifically marketed as such.
In Canada and the Commonwealth, we have a day known as Boxing Day. It’s history was actually quite noble, but now it’s just a shell of its former self as it has become co-opted by consumerism. In the beginning, it’s said Boxing Day was meant for giving gifts to those in need. You could think of it as a final celebration of Christmas in that sense. You give gifts to loved ones on Christmas, and then on the following day — Saint Stephen’s Day to some— you would give gifts to those less fortunate.
In our modern times, Boxing Day has taken on a role of being a shopping day. It seems to be a silly time from a retailer standpoint since it is after Christmas — which is a major driver of sales around the end of the year as we know. Boxing Day, however, pales in comparison to its American cousin: Black Friday.
Black Friday is a day unlike any other, and ironically, this day of singular corporate greed and consumerist gluttony falls literally the day after American Thanksgiving. I find that to be ironic, and it’s why I’m writing this piece. I think it’s almost laughable that the day after hundreds of millions of people give thanks and show gratitude that they then go on a rampage through their local big-box stores.
And Black Friday wasn’t enough for the corporations, of course, because with the advent of online shopping, Cyber Monday has risen as yet another day of shopping. It focuses on online deals and occurs the Monday after Black Friday and Thanksgiving Thursday. Lesser known days also include Small Business Saturday as a means of shopping local (also held the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and Super Saturday which is the Saturday before Christmas and is a revenue driver because of all of those last-minute shoppers.
Black Friday itself isn’t an issue, but it’s degree of consumerism sure is. What began as a simple tongue-in-cheek metaphor for the start of the Christmas shopping season quickly snowballed into a weeks-long barrage of discounts and deals which are designed to encourage you to spend more to save more (which still doesn’t make sense how spending more on stuff you don’t need is actually saving money, but whatever).
And, as mentioned, Black Friday wasn’t enough. They added Cyber Monday and all the days of deals that brings (and I have been getting bombarded from Amazon by notifications for deals on shit I don’t need). And, in Canada, we get a Boxing Week to coincide around Boxing Day.
I think Canada is, unfortunately, in a unique place to get consumerized more than other countries due to the proximity of America. Black Friday and Boxing Day are now duelling for sales but get equal airtime for advertising — and that means we are bombarded with ads from mid-November to New Year’s. The pressures to buy more and more never seem to end, and it all cycles in the orbit of holidays which should never have succumbed to commercialization in the first place.
Pressures to Spend More
The corruption of the holiday season means we are now beholden to external pressures to spend more and more. I am no psychologist, but there is a lot to say about the way advertising makes us feel like we have to conform because this is society telling us what we should do, and I dare say a lot of people also uphold the same message.
To speak anecdotally, I do know people who care very much about the dollar values of the presents more than they care about the sentimental values. Things like “dollar matching” for gifts have led to this as a form of peer pressure. “I’m buying you $100 worth of stuff, so you have to buy me $100 worth of stuff” is a functionally terrible and morally corrupt statement in my mind. It rips the point of the holidays right from the chest and stomps on it.
Social media and FOMO likely do not help on the peer pressure side of things either. The idea that we are not keeping up or being left behind on the things society has us chasing makes us feel like outsiders. And so, giving gifts becomes an obligation, and outdoing each other becomes an expectation, and the retailers laugh all the way to the bnak.
I wonder when exactly gift giving became less about the emotional impact of the gift and more about the monetary values. I know sentimental gifts matter, of course, but on a grander scale, advertising and consumerism has led society down this path where they matter less.
Gifts given as a form of honest generosity and personal thoughtfulness will always be better and mean more long-term than compulsory gifts of commodity given out of obligation and succumbing to social pressures. The gifts given and received on a holiday should not feel like a transactional gesture yet so often do.
The Erosion of Traditional Values
As I’ve mentioned, holidays used to be focused around connection, love, and tradition. However, in the years since the Industrial Revolution, holidays have become more and more defined by consumption and appearances, undermining the core values that once made holidays so meaningful.
The religious connotations have been long lost on a lot of us around these holidays too – or it felt that way anyway. In my previous article, I wrote about Nietzsche’s “death of God” and I feel like it carries over to these religious holidays. The ways in which religion and spirituality have become detached from society at large are, I think, to blame for some part of why these holidays no longer feel the way they used to, why capitalism was so easily able to sink its teeth into them.
It feels like the traditional aspects — on a grand scale — have been lost. The reflective nature of the holidays is brushed aside and we are no longer here to celebrate the birth of Christ or to be thankful or reflect on a passing year. The disappearance of the focus once placed on these tender and intimate moments is almost worrisome.
Will we come back around given the affordability crises we are facing and realize the true value of the holidays is not in the gifts we receive but in the connections we nourish?
Climate, Waste, and “Sustainability”
One of the main issues I have with the constant urge for consumption is that it is wasteful beyond reason. The Earth has a finite amount of resources to use, and the capitalist model of consumption for profit is designed for constant growth. How, though, can we grow something constantly when it is confined by limited resources?
With all the extra commodities being purchased, the increase in waste is equal and more. Wrapping paper, gift bags, and plastic decorations do little more than end up in landfills, rivers, and oceans. This means the environmental cost of mass consumption during the holiday season becomes staggering.
Increased production, packaging, and shipping of goods during the holiday season contribute heavily to carbon emissions — especially from online deliveries and the packaging from these orders (granted, some companies are doing their best to reduce waste and emissions, but still).
The rise of this sustainable marketing is also a little paradoxical since things like “biodegradable wrapping paper” or other sustainable gift items serve only to distract from what I feel is a bigger issue: the unsustainability of a culture built on overconsumption, and this shines through in exemplary fashion during the holiday season.
Inequality
Holidays, particularly Christmas or Valentine’s Day, can exacerbate feelings of social inequality within lower-income families and individuals who may feel pushed aside and left out of the commercialized celebrations. The pressures to spend more money than we have — i.e. taking on debt — can lead to financial strain (and I think by now we all know financial stress is one of the most prevalent and pervasive sources of stress).
The desire to spend on gifts for family and loved ones can be a major source of stress. Even in my life, many people around me are wary about agreeing to plans, such as going to a concert in the New Year, because of the financial drain that is Christmas.
So what are people in low-income situations to do? I find it especially noticeable for children on Christmas. How do you explain that Santa loves some kids less because their parents are poor? Traditionally, Christmas should be a time for connection, not a reminder of the things we have or have not.
And it doesn’t stop there, because even charity, a staple of the holiday season, has seemingly been a victim of commercialization, with campaigns that focus more on the branding of the corporation than on meaningful contributions to the social cause they purport to support.
Capitalistic Homogeny
Within the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution came globalization. This was inevitable given economic theory. Those who are best at making something should make that thing in abundance and trade it. Then came the internet, and suddenly the social and cultural aspects of our lives became globalized. In the wake of social media, I now regularly talk to people from around the world.
But for all the positive things that globalization has given us, it has robbed us of a lot too. Multinational giants — the ’Zon, for example — have helped to standardize the shopping experience, and this includes holiday shopping and the discounts and sales therein.
As these corporations shape the standardization of the holiday experience and sell us on what they want us to think the holidays should be like, we lose a lot of the smaller traditions and, many times, local customs can be overshadowed by prevailing holidays and advertising campaigns. Basically, companies push holidays when they are profitable. I’ve seen this here in Canada recently with numerous stores now featuring larger displays for Diwali due to the increased Indian immigrant population in certain areas.
The push for universal holiday celebrations dilutes the cultural uniqueness and traditions of the holidays contained. It creates a capitalistic homogeny rather than a cultural plethora. Constant marketing, advertising, and pressures to buy more are now the staples of many holidays.
Resistance and Pushback
Alternative Holidays
Perhaps the answer lies in alternative ways of celebrating these holidays altogether. Maybe there should be a complete rejection of religion-based holidays and replaced with modern, experience-centred holiday celebrations. Traditions can be changed after all.
The rise of minimalist movements — like Buy Nothing Day — could offer an alternative and a respite from the constant consumer pressure. It gives us an alternative to the commercialized holiday experience. People are starting to opt for simpler and less materialistic celebrations.
There is also a growing trend toward experience-based gifts rather than some physical commodity. What we know is that some studies are showing that people prefer experiences— i.e. building memories and connections — over simple, physical gifts. We value the time spent together much more than the things we receive (which really begs the question how we got to such a critical commercialization point).
And maybe the answer lies in doing more for other people in general. Much like how Boxing Day began as a way of giving gifts to those in need, perhaps the key to taking back the holidays can be a more charitable heart and working within the community to volunteer to help others rather than simply enjoy personal consumption. Reframing our focus could help restore some of the holiday cheer.
For a holiday like Valentine’s Day, maybe instead of being pressured to buy diamonds and fancy chocolates and flowers, we can write each other terrible poems and love letters and make a nice, home-cooked meal to enjoy together.
Reclamation
There ought to be a meaningful return to the roots of what made these holidays stand out and become so culturally significant to us. Returning to more intimate, spiritual, and family-and-friends-and-loved-ones-focused holiday practices can help to heal us from the consumerism we are so constantly bombarded by.
Home-cooked feasts and unplugging from the world at large are a great way to allow ourselves to hone in on the things that should matter — family and friends — and reconnect the connections we are losing in the frenzy of capitalism’s hold on the holidays.
In equal importance, we should decide to spend our money in better ways. Thoughtfulness goes further than the monetary value. These large companies do not need anything from us. We don’t owe them all of our money simply because they market the holidays in the way they do.
Opting to spend less money but trying to remain thoughtful — and even sustainable — means that gifts will be valued more than simple, mass-produced commodities. I think a focus on returning to these simple traditional forms of gift giving will help us reclaim the traditional values we have lost and are losing.
While there are many other factors at play into reconnecting with people (like the effects of social media, our dwindling attention spans, and more), the holidays should be the last bastion of connection that we have in a world where everything is constantly trying to pull us some way or another to spend our time or money.
Conclusion
To conclude, the holidays are an important time of the year — religious or not — for many people. Consumerism has infected the holiday season with a growing shopping season and targeted advertising to idealize the version of the holidays we hold in our heads. They sell us on an idea that they have concocted in order to sell us more things. The holiday season has shifted from a time of reflection and connection towards one of material excess, driven by forces of capitalism and consumerism.
I encourage you to challenge the commercial pressures of the holiday season, and I encourage you to seek more authentic ways of celebrating which align either with your personal values or the traditional values of the holiday and to reject consumerism.
Time spent together is better than money spent apart.
So, as we approach another holiday season, perhaps it’s time to ask ourselves: what do we really need to celebrate, more stuff or more connection?
Yours truly,
D.
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