{"id":1402,"date":"2011-12-21T08:31:19","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T13:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/changingchannels\/?p=1402"},"modified":"2011-12-21T17:14:53","modified_gmt":"2011-12-21T22:14:53","slug":"ho-ho-humbled-best-buy-slams-santa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/changingchannels\/2011\/12\/ho-ho-humbled-best-buy-slams-santa.html","title":{"rendered":"Ho, Ho Humbled … Best Buy Slams Santa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me make one thing perfectly clear … as the late, great President Nixon used to say… I have NEVER been a big fan of Santa Claus.<\/p>\n

I think he’s part of the commercial distraction that takes away from the Christ in Christmas.<\/p>\n

Or tries to.<\/p>\n

That said, I am actually a bit uncomfortable about the ads “starring” Santa on Best Buy<\/em>, where people try to one-up him by getting better gifts for people than he does.<\/p>\n

The commercials are smart and edgy, to be sure, but they seem a little mean-spirited as well.<\/p>\n

I mean, what did Santa ever do to these people to get mocked by having his replica kicked off the roof or get texted nasty little messages?<\/p>\n

Santa’s not sacred to me, not by ANY means, but it could be jarring for little kids to see him treated so shabbily.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Santa Claus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It seems like the part of our culture about “buying happiness” through gifts, electronics or whatever, trumps everything.<\/p>\n

Even poor Santa!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me make one thing perfectly clear … as the late, great President Nixon used to say… I have NEVER been a big fan of Santa Claus. I think he’s part of the commercial distraction that takes away from the Christ in Christmas. Or tries to. That said, I am actually a bit uncomfortable about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":407,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,22,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-commercials","category-opinion","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nHo, Ho Humbled ... 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