Commercialization of Christmas FINAL

Christmas was once a highly valued holiday. Every gift given, every card sent, every gesture made was the result of hard work was from deep within the heart. Nowadays, Christmas is becoming less and less personal. Marketers take advantage of the scramble for buying by lowering all prices, making Christmas more of a business opportunity than a holiday. Presents are cheaper, less thought is put into gifts, and anything on sale can pass for “personal”. The value of Christmas has declined with the growing commercialization, both in monetary and emotional terms.

The monetary values of gifts have been dropping with every passing year. Marketers know that people are out shopping for gifts all through December, so, all through December, prices are kept low and affordable. This way, more goods will be sold, and more money will be made. Lower prices on goods also somewhat lower the value of the gift in general. If all prices were the same, there would be no inclination to buy the cheaper, but less valuable, item on sale. By lowering prices and highlighting the goods that have lowered prices, though, marketers have inadvertently led customers away from their original intentions. My mother is an annual victim of these marketing schemes. Every year, she goes shopping for gifts that people requested, and every year she returns with fake copies of what was requested or with items that were not on the list at all. When asked why she does this, she says “They were on sale.” The cheap gifts that are now stocked on shelves are lacking in many aspects, especially in thought and consideration, for they are simply made to be sold and not used.

In his blog, David Lawrence Dewey writes about his childhood Christmas experiences. He grew up in an unfortunate family, low on income and love. At age 12, his parents split up, and he was left with only his mother and brother. Times were not good. His mom worked day and night to scrape together enough money to feed them every night. One year, he received an old, worn coat and his brother received a small, red fire engine. To him, it was a Christmas miracle. The gifts given were not particularly good, but they were the fruit of his mother’s countless 15-hour workdays. The coat and truck were embodiments of his mother’s love, and that made the gifts priceless. Such dedication to gift buying is almost unheard of by today’s standards; today, presents are just plucked off shelves, plopped into boxes, wrapped, and shipped off to the recipients, taking in total no more than half an hour. The effort put into getting a gift has declined sharply over the past generation, and will probably continue to decline unless someone takes charge and stops the commercialization, such as boycotting goods on sale during Christmas.

Christmas is one of the most commercialized holidays. Everywhere, people take advantage of the frantic shopping and lower prices to sell and profit more. Sadly, this makes Christmas less and less personal every year. Hopefully, Christmas will gain some of its value back in the future when people decide to put more time and work into their gifts. We can all contribute to improving Christmas’s value by simply taking the time to think about which gifts to give a close friend.

Christmas was once a highly valued holiday. Every gift given, every card sent, every gesture made was the result of hard work was from deep within the heart. Nowadays, Christmas is becoming less and less personal. Marketers take advantage of the scramble for buying by lowering all prices, making Christmas more of a business opportunity than a holiday. Presents are cheaper, less thought is put into gifts, and anything on sale can pass for “personal”. The value of Christmas has declined with the growing commercialization, both in monetary and emotional terms.

The monetary values of gifts have been dropping with every passing year. Marketers know that people are out shopping for gifts all through December, so, all through December, prices are kept low and affordable. This way, more goods will be sold, and more money will be made. Lower prices on goods also somewhat lower the value of the gift in general. If all prices were the same, there would be no inclination to buy the cheaper, but less valuable, item on sale. By lowering prices and highlighting the goods that have lowered prices, though, marketers have inadvertently led customers away from their original intentions. My mother is an annual victim of these marketing schemes. Every year, she goes shopping for gifts that people requested, and every year she returns with fake copies of what was requested or with items that were not on the list at all. When asked why she does this, she says “They were on sale.” The cheap gifts that are now stocked on shelves are lacking in many aspects, especially in thought and consideration, for they are simply made to be sold and not used.

In his blog, David Lawrence Dewey writes about his childhood Christmas experiences. He grew up in an unfortunate family, low on income and love. At age 12, his parents split up, and he was left with only his mother and brother. Times were not good. His mom worked day and night to scrape together enough money to feed them every night, and receiving any presents at all on Christmas was a miracle to them. One year, Dewey received an old, worn coat and his brother received a small, red fire engine from their mother. While many consider these presents “lame” or “stupid”, it was a Christmas miracle to him. The gifts given were not particularly good, but they were the fruit of his mother’s countless 15-hour workdays. The coat and truck were embodiments of his mother’s love, and that made the gifts priceless. Such dedication to gift buying is almost unheard of by today’s standards; today, presents are just plucked off shelves, plopped into boxes, wrapped, and shipped off to the recipients, taking in total no more than half an hour. The effort put into getting a gift has declined sharply over the past generation, and will probably continue to decline unless someone takes charge and stops the commercialization, such as boycotting goods on sale during Christmas.

Christmas is one of the most commercialized holidays. Everywhere, people take advantage of the frantic shopping and lower prices to sell and profit more. Sadly, this makes Christmas less and less personal every year. Hopefully, Christmas will gain some of its value back in the future when people decide to put more time and work into their gifts. We can all contribute to improving Christmas’s value by simply taking the time to think about which gifts to give a close friend.

Christmas was once a highly valued holiday. Every gift given, every card sent, every gesture made was the result of hard work was from deep within the heart. Nowadays, Christmas is becoming less and less personal. Marketers take advantage of the scramble for buying by lowering all prices, making Christmas more of a business opportunity than a holiday. Presents are cheaper, less thought is put into gifts, and anything on sale can pass for “personal”. The value of Christmas has declined with the growing commercialization, both in monetary and emotional terms.

The monetary values of gifts have been dropping with every passing year. Marketers know that people are out shopping for gifts all through December, so, all through December, prices are kept low and affordable. This way, more goods will be sold, and more money will be made. Lower prices on goods also somewhat lower the value of the gift in general. If all prices were the same, there would be no inclination to buy the cheaper, but less valuable, item on sale. By lowering prices and highlighting the goods that have lowered prices, though, marketers have inadvertently led customers away from their original intentions. My mother is an annual victim of these marketing schemes. Every year, she goes shopping for gifts, and every year she returns with counterfeit copies of what was requested or items that were nowhere. When asked why she does this, she says “They were on sale.” The cheap gifts that are now stocked on shelves are lacking in many aspects, especially in thought and consideration, for they are simply made to be sold and not used.

In his blog, David Lawrence Dewey writes about his childhood Christmas experiences. He grew up in an unfortunate family, low on income and love. At age 12, his parents split up, and he was left with only his mother and brother. Times were not good. His mom worked day and night to scrape together enough money to feed them every night, and receiving any presents at all on Christmas was a miracle to them. One year, Dewey received an old, worn coat and his brother received a small, red fire engine from their mother. While many consider these presents “lame” or “stupid”, it was a Christmas miracle to him. The gifts given were not particularly good, but they were the fruit of his mother’s countless 15-hour workdays. The coat and truck were embodiments of his mother’s love, and that made the gifts priceless. Such dedication to gift buying is almost unheard of by today’s standards; today, presents are just plucked off shelves, plopped into boxes, wrapped, and shipped off to the recipients, taking in total no more than half an hour. The effort put into getting a gift has declined sharply over the past generation, and will probably continue to decline unless someone takes charge and stops the commercialization, such as boycotting goods on sale during Christmas.

Christmas is one of the most commercialized holidays. Everywhere, people take advantage of the frantic shopping and lower prices to sell and profit more. Sadly, this makes Christmas less and less personal every year. Hopefully, Christmas will gain some of its value back in the future when people decide to put more time and work into their gifts. We can all contribute to improving Christmas’s value by simply taking the time to think about which gifts to give a close friend.

Christmas was once a highly valued holiday. Every gift given, every card sent, every gesture made was the result of hard work and was from deep within the heart. Nowadays, Christmas is becoming less and less personal. Marketers take advantage of the scramble for buying by lowering all prices, making Christmas more of a business opportunity than a holiday. Presents are cheaper, less thought is put into gifts, and anything on sale can pass for “personal”. The value of Christmas has declined with the growing commercialization, both in monetary and emotional terms.

The monetary values of gifts have been dropping with every passing year. Marketers know that people are out shopping for gifts all through December, so, all through December, prices are kept low and affordable. This way, more goods will be sold, and more money will be made. Lower prices on goods also somewhat lower the value of the gift in general. If all prices were the same, there would be no inclination to buy the cheaper, but less valuable, item on sale. By lowering prices and highlighting the goods that have lowered prices, though, marketers have inadvertently led customers away from their original intentions. My mother is an annual victim of these marketing schemes. Every year, she goes shopping for gifts, and every year she returns with counterfeit copies of what was requested or items that were nowhere. When asked why she does this, she says “They were on sale.” The cheap gifts that are now stocked on shelves are lacking in many aspects, especially in thought and consideration, for they are simply made to be sold and not used.

In his blog, David Lawrence Dewey writes about his childhood Christmas experiences. He grew up in an unfortunate family, low on income and love. At age 12, his parents split up, and he was left with only his mother and brother. Times were not good. His mom worked day and night to scrape together enough money to feed them every night, and receiving any presents at all on Christmas was a miracle to them. One year, Dewey received an old, worn coat and his brother received a small, red fire engine from their mother. While many consider these presents “lame” or “stupid”, it was a Christmas miracle to him. The gifts given were not particularly good, but they were the fruit of his mother’s countless 15-hour workdays. The coat and truck were embodiments of his mother’s love, and that made the gifts priceless. Such dedication to gift buying is almost unheard of by today’s standards; today, presents are just plucked off shelves, plopped into boxes, wrapped, and shipped off to the recipients, taking in total no more than half an hour. The effort put into getting a gift has declined sharply over the past generation, and will probably continue to decline unless someone takes charge and stops the commercialization, such as boycotting goods on sale during Christmas.

Christmas is one of the most commercialized holidays. Everywhere, people take advantage of the frantic shopping and lower prices to sell and profit more. Sadly, this makes Christmas less and less personal every year. Hopefully, Christmas will gain some of its value back in the future when people decide to put more time and work into their gifts. We can all contribute to improving Christmas’s value by simply taking the time to think about which gifts to give a close friend.