Retailers have never declared war on Christmas — ever
[Commentary]
Death and taxes are not the only certainties in life. You can also add the annual claim by some that retailers — those pursuers of all things controversial — are waging a war on Christmas. The latest example is a campaign started by Joshua Feuerstein, a self-described "American evangelist, internet and social media personality," against Starbucks for its decision to go with coffee cups that contain only its green logo against a plain, red background.
According to Mr. Feuerstein, Starbucks made the decision to change the design this year because it "wanted to take Christ and Christmas" off of its cups. Now, for clarification purposes, Starbucks has not used religious imagery on its cups in the past. It has used reindeer, snowmen and other wintery symbols, but nothing involving a religious connection to the Christmas holiday — say a babe in a manger, a star in the sky, shepherds, wise men, etc.
Mr. Feuerstein has also taken umbrage at baristas not wishing him a merry Christmas in early November. He decided that he would address that issue by giving his name as "Merry Christmas" when asked by a barista so that when his order was ready everyone in the store would hear the seasonal greeting loud and clear.
Photo: Starbucks
While there’s no doubt that Mr. Feuerstein has the support of like-minded people, it is also true that his rant against political correctness has sparked a reaction by others fed up with those who look for every opportunity to dispute anything that may be PC motivated.
According to research by Amobee Brand Intelligence, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, there were 40,455 tweets on Twitter related to Mr. Feuerstein’s #MerryChristmasStarbucks campaign. Sixty-seven percent contained negative sentiments, although only 17 percent directed their negativity toward Starbucks. Most were not buying what Mr. Feuerstein was peddling.
Christmas is precious to millions throughout the world, but the desire to preserve the holiday has led to a breakdown in logical thinking. Here are a few thoughts on the subject.
- Images such as snowmen and reindeer have nothing to do with the religious underpinnings of Christmas. Those taking offense at those images being left off coffee cups or anything else are simply looking to create a controversy where none exists.
- The term "happy holidays" has to do with the period of time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s and is not a slight of Christmas.
- Every Christian faith promotes the individual relationship that its followers have with Jesus. It is only by turning one’s back on that relationship that Christ can be taken out of Christmas.
- The Story Behind the Design of Starbucks Red Holiday Cups for 2015 – Starbucks
- #MerryChristmas Starbucks! Watch the absurd "war on Christmas" call-to-arms over red coffee cups – Salon
- Consumers Aren’t So Cheery About Starbucks’ Holiday Cup Controversy – The Wall Street Journal (sub. required)
- Joshua Feuerstein – Facebook
Discussion Questions
Do you think some retailers are guilty of being in some way anti-Christmas? How should retailers deal with accusations that they are against Christmas?
Poll
BrainTrust
Liz Crawford
VP Planning, TPN Retail
Jonathan Marek
Senior Vice President, Applied Predictive Technologies
Starbucks’ mistake (if it was one) was in redesigning its cups to eliminate winter motifs, but these were not Christmas-specific in the first place. So it’s a stretch to look for signs of the “war on Christmas” in this case. Retailers do need to be sensitive to those customers who celebrate other holidays in December (mostly in terms of their product offerings) but I see very little evidence of an “anti-Christmas” feeling out there. Most retailers don’t shy away from either secular messaging (red and green decor) or “Merry Christmas” graphics throughout their stores and in their sale circulars.
The so-called “war on Christmas” is an example of reverse political correctness run amok.
I am personally offended that Starbucks doesn’t wish me a “Happy Festivus.” This is ridiculous. It is symptomatic of our deteriorating, entitled society that anybody is cranked up over what a retailer is or isn’t doing on their cups.
I am quite sure that Starbucks was trying to be more inclusive. That led to the red cup with the logo, as a kind of green seasonal decoration … it almost looks like a wreath. That’s pretty clever. But no. Now we have to cater specifically to one religious nut and another. Please.
C’mon people. This isn’t church. This is a coffee shop.
Mr. Feuerstein has had his 15 minutes of fame and can now retreat to his spite-filled cave. Starbucks and other retailers that do not emphasize Christ or Christmas are not anti-Christmas. And bravo to Starbucks for not asking its employees to say “Merry Christmas” in early November. Last I looked, Christmas is on December 25. Retailers are best advised to ignore people like Mr. Feuerstein, as they can only lose by engaging him in any dialogue.
It is very hard to remain “family friendly” on this topic.
Last time I checked, this country was founded on the premise of separation of church and state. I believe that even the “under God” phrase was added to our Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, along with “In God We Trust” on our money. And we remember what a “special” era that was in U.S. history (McCarthy hearings).
The notion of embracing Christmas … well, it was there when I was a kid, but we just lived with it. After all, I grew up Jewish. My father was an ordained Rabbi. He worked hard to give us a sense of our Judaic history in the face of the endless parade of Christmas greetings, and full 24 hours of Christmas shows starting on Christmas Eve every year. We (the American Jewish people) developed our own Christmas traditions — and Chinese food and a movie remain a treasured tradition in my life.
But my father never talked about this country’s “war on Judaism.” He just lived his truth. And we lived our lives.
I would argue that there has been an ever increasing war on secularism, no war on Christmas. It’d be silly if it wasn’t so noisy.
Retailers are in a tough spot here. They’ve got to figure out what percentage of the populace shares Mr. Feuestein’s views. I think it’s pretty small, but vocal. So I would simply ignore the “accusations.”
There is a reason for the season … and that varies by faith and beliefs.
Agree with George on this one, I’ve never seen a retailer specifically “wage war on Christmas”, Hannukah, or any other faith-based holiday.
In this age of ever growing political correctness, it is increasingly difficult to appease everyone with “appropriate” symbols of the season. So it is understandable why Starbucks went with just a color and just their logo.
The reason for the season is NOT the stores decorations or cups! Bravo George! You absolutely nailed the core issue with your last point:
“It is only by turning one’s [your] back on that relationship that Christ can be taken out of Christmas.”
It’s not retailers being anti-Christmas, it’s people who (thanks to social media) have a voice regardless of what they have to say. Thankfully we have this freedom of speech thing, which allows people with an agenda — and those simply seeking self-promotion — to have a voice regardless of the merits of their message.
As a similar “self-appointed” evangelist — for customers — I think the cups should simply say “thank you.”
Just another example of how social media gives a voice to all … even the crazy ones! Seriously? I watched that guy’s video and was reminded that just because you can say something, doesn’t mean you should — and certainly doesn’t mean it’s right.
As to how Starbucks and others should handle such nonsense … ignore it, knowing that most people are thinking the same thing as everyone else is on this post.
No one gets excited about being sterile and neutral. I would suggest plastering Christmas on everything or just going total anti-Christmas. This would create controversy and free publicity. The people who like this will be happy to make their purchases. The people who don’t like it will probably buy twice as much. Starbucks is using reverse psychology. They created a promotion where people will come in and say their name is Merry Christmas. To do that customers upset with Starbucks MUST COME TO STARBUCKS and buy something in order to protest Starbucks being anti-Christmas. Genius! Kudos Starbucks. The best market plan for being anti-Christmas is one where those upset with you get to show their feelings by buying your products.
Wait a minute, isn’t this guy getting way too much ink and attention!? Shame on us for giving it to him.
I’m so upset to even discuss this, I’m going to crib others’ thoughts on the matter:
— “The so-called ‘war on Christmas’ is an example of reverse political correctness run amok.”
— “Now we have to cater specifically to one religious nut and another. Please.
C’mon people. This isn’t church. This is a coffee shop.”
— “This is ridiculous. It is symptomatic of our deteriorating, entitled society that anybody is cranked up over what a retailer is or isn’t doing on their cups.”
— “Mr. Feuerstein has had his 15 minutes of fame and can now retreat to his spite-filled cave.”
— “The notion of embracing Christmas … well, it was there when I was a kid, but we just lived with it. (me too, Paula, me too).”
George, I guess the real message here is when writing, don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Retailers are few that don’t move whatever way the wind is blowing. That doesn’t make them bad, it just doesn’t make them leaders!
I think it’s highly ironic — even to the point of being funny — that on the same day we are asked if retailers have ever waged war against Christmas, we are also asked to comment on what retailers should do to decorate their stores for the holidays.
I got married while I was working in retail. My husband was a store manager and I worked in the back office. And we both worked the sales floor every Christmas season, right up through the last minute on the last day before Christmas Eve. By then we were so sick of Christmas carols (played incessantly over the store sound system), holiday cookbooks, holiday food and holiday decorations that we barely put any effort into them at home. In fact, for about 10 years after I stopped working the floor in retail, our Christmas tree (only the real thing in my house, no fakes) was decorated primarily in blue and silver because I couldn’t stand red and green decorations. And the Frosty the Snowman song still gives me flashbacks.
As Paula notes, 100 percent of our country is not Christian, and even those of us who were raised in the Christian tradition may not necessarily be overly enthusiastic about the commercial aspects of the holidays. Of course retailers need to embrace the season — but they need to be all-inclusive.
If Mr. Feuerstein wants religion in his retail, he should then shop at the retailers who have chosen to position themselves along religious lines. There are plenty enough of those. I’m sure he can find a coffee house too that would be willing to cater to his taste.
Mr. Feuerstein’s complaints are … odd. The Starbucks cups are red and green — Christmas colors. And it isn’t winter yet, why would anyone say Merry Christmas now? (Are there actually other retailers saying this in early November?) Hard to believe he has even found like-minded people.
As for how Starbucks should respond to the so-called accusation, I’m not really sure, but I think it would be rather fun for them to hijack the hashtag somehow and incorporate into their holiday ad campaign, encouraging their customer base to use it for another yet-to-be-decided purpose.
*These opinions are solely mine and do not necessarily reflect those of HRG.*
Nicely done George.
At the moment, I am sitting in Starbucks, drinking out of the red and green cup and listening to “Christmas is Here.” As I turn around I see two large displays of Christmas Blend and a display for Advent calendars.
I see nobody objecting.
We will always have someone in dire need of attention like the #MerryXMasStarbucks guy. Retailers are smart and leverage their lifesaving holiday season. With the zillion religions and beliefs that their shoppers live by most retailers just leverage “happy holidays” and move the toys to the front of the racetrack, use bright colors, etc.
Over the years Christmas has faded to happy holidays. As a normal Catholic, Lutheran or Presbyterian guy (I cannot decide which church I really like yet) I miss more of the Christmas noise in stores. I have my 578 Christmas and holiday songs, including “Christmas in the Trailer Park.”
So to each their own and Santa is real, that is why I payoff a few Walmart layaway accounts for accounts with lots of toys. Those families know that Santa is for real and this elf works for him.
Happy holidays and a merry NRF 2016!
I think this is totally out of control. Red. Cup … Really? This reminds me of research to get at “is shopping fun.” The insight was “it depends.”
In our ever increasing fractured society, no retailer can please all the people all the time. There might be 10 kinds of Coke or 15 different kinds of Doritos, but a retailer should have ONE kind of approach to holiday and that ought to be informed by 1) best customers and 2) employees, especially front-liners.
As in anything that has to do with the brand, it must be customer-centric. AND the ultimate brand stewards must be comfortable supporting the brand promise on the selling floor/phone center or in the USX online. Especially at holiday.
As priests, rabbis, ministers, Wiccans, monks, shamans and atheists all say, “retail ain’t for sissies!”
Next, it will be that retailers are anti-Christmas because the doorbusters weren’t good enough on Black Friday! Clearly, for retailers, Christmas is about driving sales. It’s a commercial holiday. That’s what the red cups are for. That’s what the sales are for. That’s what the decorations are for. It’s fun.
Interestingly, I’ve taken a couple trips to Japan in December, where very few people are Christian, but Christmas is still a huge retail holiday. The decorations there are often more impressive than in the US. And no one gets offended if you do or don’t say “Merry Christmas.”
I certainly don’t see any retailers being anti-Christmas. For goodness sake, for most retailers, the holidays are their bread and butter.
What we do see is retailers trying to be inclusive … and that is smart. There are plenty of Mr. Feuerstein’s for every other religious group.
Here’s the deal. I ring bells outside of Macy’s every year for the Salvation Army. (Try it, you’ll get hooked.) If someone approaches me wearing a Christmas sweater, I will shout out, Merry Christmas! If they look hurried and no indication of holiday cheer, I might say, “Good morning, have a great day!” All the while I hum Christmas carols (I really can’t sing).
But that’s just my 2 cents.
Despite the threat of walls being erected at our borders, the United States is an international melting pot of cultures, faiths or spiritual beliefs, and ethnic-centric celebrations. We should protect and defend our diversity. Unfortunately, rather than promote a blending, some people are offended by exclusion, or inclusion. The internet and social networking has given a platform for those with a point of view to sound off. I am not really sure why Starbucks took the action they did, but “why get your toga in a knot about it?” There are people starving in … almost everywhere. Eat your vegetables and shift your focus to helping a charity this holiday season.
That’s really funny! But you know, since Christ was born in the Fall according to a lot of accounts, you could say that the “new” Christmas is actually invading retail’s hottest space!
All kidding aside, it seems to me that everyone in America, regardless of religion, has come to celebrate what we now call “The Holidays.” You know, a time of good will, exchanging presents, singing songs, taking time off work to be with your family. Why would you want to complain at all about something like that? Just enjoy the time the way you want to enjoy the time and let everyone else do likewise.
What’s that expression we have here, oh yeah, “It’s a free country.” That, at least, is for sure.