Holiday Blues
Have you heard of the wild Black Friday stories, such as a woman punching another over a toy? What about people fighting each other over the last flat-screen television? Sadly this is what the holidays have come to. This time of year is known as a time when Americans spend a ridiculous amount of money during the holidays. Sales such as Black Friday cause Americans to lose the real meaning of the holidays, a time to relax and spend time with family. Americans gravitate toward overspending and the number of materialistic items to the point where we ignore that it is the season to spend time with family.
Americans tend to overindulge in the amount of money they spend around the holidays. Many stores such as Walmart and Target set out Christmas decorations months before the holiday comes around. Stores also send out their Christmas catalogs months in advance, so they can draw customers to “find the lowest prices.” One can also find an influx of Christmas commercials right after Halloween and even before Halloween. Since an abundance of store advertisers targets the consumer’s attention to spending money on items such as presents and decorations they forget that the holidays are supposed to be a time to relax and spend time with family. Instead, this puts stress on the consumer to find the perfect present, buying ingredients for the different meals, or decorations such as Snowman blow-ups that can be found outside numerous amount of American homes. In my family, we treat all holidays equally; we do not jump right into Christmas. During Halloween, one can see fall wreaths outside of our home with straw, pumpkins, and fall-colored leaves on them. When walking into our home one will see fall-colored and scented candles that fill the house with the aroma of pumpkin spice that makes one feel right at home. Every year we host Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I love this time because I can spend time with my family which we tend to overlook. After all, our everyday lives are very busy. My household tends to stay in this state until after Thanksgiving when it is time to start getting ready for Christmas. Once it becomes the Christmas season, we swap all of our fall decors for Christmas ones. We put out our fake Christmas tree with gold and burgundy ornaments and beads that wrap around the tree. We change out our fall candles with Christmas-scented candles, so our house smells like vanilla and gingerbread. In our dining room, we set up our Christmas china, which are plates, cups, and saucers with little Christmas trees on them. One can also hear Christmas songs such as “Last Christmas.”Similar to Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Dinner is held at our house with our immediate family. My parents are minimalist when it comes to the holidays because they focus more on the family aspect of the holiday season. They also do not spend a vast amount of money during the holiday season. My family uses the same decorations every year, so we do not spend as much money as some Americans do. My family just spends money on food and presents because my parents know what the top of their budget is so they do not go over it. In my adult life, I hope to do what my parents do, not slurping on gifts and having minimal decorations because after Christmas they do not stress about money like other parents, and it is all I have ever known so I am content with it. I enjoy keeping the holidays very simple because I can focus on the family aspect of the holidays instead of the spending and stressing side of the holidays. Compared to my view of America’s spending during the holidays, James Livingston’s article brings up a different point of view of America’s spending during the holiday season.
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In “Americans, Thou Shalt Shop and Spend for the Planet,” Livingston brings up the idea that America’s consumer culture is fine the way it is today. Livingston acknowledges both sides of America’s consumer culture, but he identifies with the argument that there is nothing wrong with our culture. Americans spend an immense of money during the holidays. I do agree with his point that when Americans spend money they are helping the economy, such as with Japanese cars. They are cheaper, last longer, and more efficient for gas mileage. I don’t agree that we should embrace the fact that Americans do spend a vast amount of money during the holidays. This article gives a standpoint that is different from many other articles on the topic. I agree up to a point on the amount of money spent around the holidays. When Livingston starts writing that we should embrace it is where I have to disagree. Even though it helps the economy short term, it still leaves people who have a vast amount of credit card bills they have to pay before the next holiday season; some Americans do not pay it all off by the time the next holiday comes. I also disagree when it says that spending is “good for the soul.” I disagree with this because, in the end, the amount of spending during the holidays leads to stress and overconsumption. It leads Americans to take the materialistic objects they own for granted, so they believe they can purchase whatever they want without knowing their limitations. It follows my line of thoughts on spending because Livingston says that America’s consumer culture leads us to live a vapid empty life (Livingston par 6). I agree with the concept because I think it just makes us greedy and self-centered. Since holiday commercials are prominent this time of year, this is why many Americans become consumed with shopping rather than spending time with family.
With all holiday commercials, advertisers make it easy for consumers to fall prey to the claim of the advertisement. A holiday Amazon commercial, shows a woman looking at a Christmas photo of her daughter while she is on the bus. She then goes on the Amazon app to buy a gift for her daughter. The commercial then shifts to the Amazon factory where the boxes are singing a song. The boxes are shown being shipped to where they belong. In the end, it shows the woman’s daughter receiving the Amazon package with a smile. Amazon is trying to convince the consumer that it is common to be away from your family during the holidays, but just because one cannot see them does not mean that they love any less. The woman is a bus away from her daughter, but this does not mean that she loves her daughter any less. The woman uses the Amazon package to show her daughter that she still loves and is thinking about her. Her daughter feels her mother’s love with her, even though she is not physically present, so this is why she hugs the package at the end of the commercial because she can feel her mother’s love. The commercial taps into pathos because when the boxes start singing in the factory it is perceived as a heartwarming commercial because it shows that no matter the distance one can always feel the love from your loved ones. It is effective because it shows that ordering presents online helps people to spend more time with family. When the woman returns home to her daughter it allows her to spend time with her daughter because she already knows that her daughter got her Christmas presents. It is also effective because it truly convinces the audience that Amazon is the perfect way to show one’s loved ones, who are away from home during the holidays. It makes the audience wonder if it is worth spending time in stores looking for a present or if is it better for one to spend time with their family for as much time as possible because one will never know who will not be home for Christmas. It causes the consumer to wonder if Amazon is the best way to send one’s love through a present when they are not home for Christmas. The increase in online shopping has also caused Americans to be consumed in shopping rather than spending time with family.
With online shopping, Americans fall into the trap of believing that online shopping is a quick and easy way to spend time with family. In Figure One, the background is in the living room; it has a mantle covered in Christmas decorations, the fireplace burning, and a decorated Christmas tree, but the background is blurred, so the focus is on the huge stack of presents wrapped in red wrapping paper, the computer, and the woman holding her credit card with a happy smile on her face. The woman is sitting on her couch dressed in Christmas colors with a Santa hat, which shows her Christmas spirit. Figure one is trying to claim that one can still be in the Christmas spirit and overjoyed while online shopping. The woman is full of happiness because she is getting all of her Christmas shopping done online without consuming so much time while finding the best deals online. The commercial taps into pathos because the audience can see how excited the woman is by doing her holiday shopping online. It is effective because it conveys the message of still being able to spend time with family while being in the Christmas spirit when one shops online. It is because online shopping is a quicker and rather simple way of shopping, it leads the audience to believe that online shopping is the way to go in terms of time consumption and efficiency. Even though figure one makes a convincing claim that by shopping online one can spend time with family and stay in the holiday spirit, Americans still can get so caught up in online shopping that they ignore their family so they find the “perfect” gift.
Americans have lost the purpose of the holiday season due to overspending and focusing on the number of materialistic objects they will receive. Based on my family life during the holidays, it leads me to believe that America’s consumer culture reveals that Americans spend too much on holiday items, rather than spending time with family. It is because of holiday commercials such as Amazon and online shopping, that it allows consumers to believe that shopping online is a more efficient way to shop during the holidays, but this is false. Even though it may seem more efficient, shopping online causes people to scroll for hours on websites until they find the “perfect” gift they are looking for, which takes away time that could be spent with family. Overall, Americans tend to lose the true meaning of the holiday season by buying holiday items, such as Christmas presents, trees, and dinner.
Works Cited
- Livingston, James. “Americans, Thou Shalt Shop and Spend for the Planet.” Wired, Conde Nast, 7 Mar. 2018, www.wired.com/2011/11/st-essay-consumers/. Commercial link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OITWgx8K6Ko
- https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/articles/2016-11-17/6-hacks-for-holiday-shopping-online
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