family traditions are being
replaced by mall traditions
You'll be invited down to the
mall, bring your family, come
see this, come do that It real
ly robs the family of the ability
to create their own traditions
and for children to participate
in them ”
Indeed, most malls and
shopping centers hold events
designed to lure shoppers
Lloyd Center in Portland
schedules a tree lighting
ceremony and the crowning
of Oregon’s Lucia Queen of
Light each year right after
Thanksgiving as well as ap
pearances by choral groups
on a daily basis And in 1985.
the Meier & Frank store in
Portland was the host to a
grand entrance from Santa
Claus after he was
escorted through downtown
Portland on a convertible
limousine by the Portland
Police Mounted Horse Patrol
The media also play a role
in upholding and
perpetuating the commercial
Christmas Magazines, for in
stance, frequently carry ar
tides such as “Fifty nifty tips
for Christmas promotion
“Christmas in July time to
starl planning for the sell
ingest’ season." and "Deck
the aisles with lots of basics
as well as shopping tips that
encourage people to "get go
ing the week before and after
Thanksgiving, keep a list of
everyone’s sizes in vour
pocketbook, and take full ad
vantage of many mail and
phone order catalogs
Gift guides art; another b».
item, both tor newspapers
and retailers The Rvgistei
Guard, for example, will put
out special sections in support
of local merchant groups and
three gilt guides during the
ll)St> holiday season
“We do it in response to a
perceived need on the part of
the merchants in a given
area says Michael Ra/ retail
advertising manager for 1 he
Register Guard Its our
answer to their request in
helping them organize a
group project And, of
coutse, we philosophically
agree that that's .1 good way
for folks in a geographic
locale to promote
There . been few change’s
in tlv gift guides The
Register Guard has put out
|J»4BT Wife *4?fVtCH t'Vfc*W$
nound the 1 .'jntiv was
nor*, t
ijndeav ned to pul »
sunier type of news in them to
help support the advertising
message of the advertisers,
Ha/ say>
Ra/ believes much of the
commercialism found today
during Christmas can be
blamed on a changing
marketplace
"It used to he that business
was a lot easier In the boom
years after the war (World
War ID and with dips in the
economy right up through
ll)7l) SO, you opened your
doors, you stayed close to
your business, you promoted
a little, and everything work
By the 1940s, the number of magazine and newspaper ads designed for
the Christmas shopper had increased fivefold. Time (magazine) carried
dozens of ads for distilled spirits and alcohol, clothes and household
items, including a ‘Daylight Television with automatic sound’ by General
Electric.
ed well.” Ra/ says “With the
advent of the mass merchan
disers. the Bi Marts, the Fred
Meyers, the Pay Lesses. the
Meier & Franks of the world,
business gets tougher The
competition for the dollar is
keener than it's ever been
before We contifiually come
up with ways to meet the
needs of those folks
According to Robinson,
however, the media has fallen
into the commercial
Christmas trap
"I really have yet to see a
serious look at the celebration
by the media I'm actually
apalled The effect on this
country (by commercialism) is
enormous It distorts
everything we do for about six
or eight weeks It increases
depression Child abuse goes
up 200 percent There’s an
incredible debt burden And I
don't see a serious examina
non of that at all.” Robinson
advertising for Christmas gifts
by retailers was minimal at
best The Dec 17. 1923 edi
tion of Time magazine only
carried three ads aimed
specifically at the holiday
shopper One was for a “Lees
Clampable Ash Receiver
another was for a subscription
to Time that carried the
heading, “Christmas is at
hand Now is the time for all
good men to come to the aid
of their friends," and the third
was for holiday gifts from
A C> Spalding and Bins
dv we i'hus
nioer
of maga/ine vinci newspaper
( hnstma
playing a big part in v hnstmas
advertising
Today .vis for Christmas
gifts can be found in ail types
of media During thi ABC
Monday Ni ;ht I ootba! Cam.
Dec 1. a number of
Christmas commercials aired
during the broad, ist Bi Mart
ran five spots Mr Donald s
ran one highlighting its
Christmas ornament promo
tion, and there were Others
urging consumers to buy dia
mond jewelry. Liberty coins
and poinsettias.
But according to Robinson.
football fans aren’t the only
target
“Television is certainly the
most effective advertising
medium, especially for
children What is happening
is that the toy manufacturers
are able to determine in ad
vance what gifts we buy our
children by what they
manufacture, how they
distribute it and how they
advertise it So actually what
were doing is fulfilling the
manufacturers expectations
each Christmas, not our
children's," she says
In Seattle, meanwhile,
retailers and car dealers are
seeing dollar signs and are
taking out ads with news that
Boeing Co employees will
receive bonus checks worth
$200 million Dec 15. Of the
estimated 115.(XX) Boeing
workers countrywide. HO.(MM)
are in the Seattle Everett
area
car dealers have taken out
ads in Seattle newspapers ca
pling Boeing workers to part
with their bonuses Kirkland
Mazda's ad said. "Attention
all Boeing employee credit
union members this is your
weekend.’’ while Perfor
mance Dodge's ad read,
“Public notice to Boeing
employees Before you
purchase your new car or
truck, you owe it to yourself
to shop us LAST'
According to Jim Con
aghan. head of economic and
media analysis at the
Newspaper Advertising
Bureau in New York City, the
Christmas season is when
advertising peaks
"If you look at the retail
component of newspaper ad
expenditures, naturally the
November December period
is going to be the largest That
may mean November being
10 percent, December
another 10 percent of the en
tire year's distribution.' Con
aghan says
According to Ongstad,
Nordstrom follows much the
same pattern “I know my
buyers love to run ads during
the holiday season And we
do have a very heavy ad
schedule We do run more
during that time of the year.''
she says
To Robinson and others,
the increase in advertising
helps distort the Christmas
season "I think that's one of
the things people resent most,
that the good feelings they do
have about Christmas are co
opted: that the beautiful
decorations that mean a lot to
people, the songs that give
them great pleasure are used
to manipulate them to buy
things." Robinson says
"Most of the television
commercials and the sales on
television remind me of the
old carnival barker. -'ays
Ralph Smith, executive