The Christmas adverts is a British institution. Every year we turn on the television and sit back as we are entertained, we are humoured- as we are brought to tears by reminders of joys gone by and reminders of what truly matters in this world. Now imagine my shock when I watched the M&S Christmas advert and felt… disgusted! It wasn’t by anything that morally egregious or that I have any objection to the advert itself. It was just one particular line that irked me. “It’s what inside that counts, the present that is”.
Something within that line triggered a deep discomfort inside of me. It made me feel that the entire holiday of Christmas had been hijacked by corporate greed and that we had been brainwashed into living beyond our means once every year for the sake of tradition. It made me feel that what was once a meaningful holiday has become little more than an opportunity for corporations to make themselves wealthy and to provoke a deep feeling of worthlessness and insecurity to those who can’t afford to give or celebrate the holiday in the same way that they usually can.
The tradition of gift giving was at one point a deeply symbolic act. Giving gifts at Christmas originated as a reminder of the gifts that Jesus was given in the nativity story and more generally as a reminder of the gift to the world that Jesus is believed to have brought in the Christian faith. However, it seems to me that this tradition has gone too far. What started as a nice symbolic gesture to show our love and appreciation for one another and encourage kindness has evolved into a costly societal obligation that results in an estimated 23 million pieces of tat ending up in landfill each year.
According to a YouGov poll, the average Brit spends around £300 on gifts alone during the Christmas season. Another survey found that 39% of people dip into their savings during the Christmas period and a shocking 1 in 5 Brits fund these gifts by getting themselves into debt. And for what good?
What’s the cause of this needless excess spending? Well, it’s simple, the Christmas advert. Through carefully crafted pieces of art that tug on your heartstrings, corporations have convinced us that in order to demonstrate our love to those we care about, we need to give them (the corporation) money we don’t have. They’ve convinced us that our Christmas will never be as good as the last if we don’t out-spend it. Take the Boots advert for example; a little girl goes halfway round the world, giving away useless tat in the process to complete strangers, in order to give Santa a gift he’ll probably never use. Let’s be real, how many bath sets do we all end up throwing away each year?
Now, this is not me saying “bah humbug”, or I hate Christmas. Far from it. I love Christmas! It’s an excuse to watch films that I love, reflect on memories gone by and remember the loved ones who are no longer here to celebrate it with me. For me, Christmas is a calling for us to be kinder, to show love to other people and (stay with me) to give. The thing is, we need to start focusing on how we give, why we give, and who we give to. I’m sick and tired of the expectation to buy and give for the sake of it. Surely it is time to use Christmas for good?
So, my dear readers, this Christmas I implore you to give thoughtfully. Think carefully about who you most want to show your love and appreciation to and buy them something that you think will uplift them, bring them joy and will help demonstrate to them that you care. Stop buying that Lynx Africa set for the weird 3rd cousin you don’t even like and start giving to charity instead.
So stop giving for the sake of giving, give gifts to someone who really needs the joy in their life- even if it’s a stranger! Spend your money in your local community, stop allowing corporations to hijack Christmas! Instead of buying your mum some perfume (that she’ll most likely never use) from Boots, why don’t you buy her an ornament from a local artist. She’d likely appreciate it much more, and let’s be real, who needs your money the most? Let Christmas be an opportunity to make your local community thrive and flourish.
Little changes we make to how we celebrate can make a world of difference in restoring the meaning of Christmas. Let’s make Christmas the celebration of light through the darkness that it once was. Let’s make Christmas Christmassy again!