• uniquely-ironic said on Nov 01, 2007....

  I wish they'd at least wait until December, but I've seem adverts for Christmas since September.

• evil_twin said on Nov 01, 2007....

  I hear ya. The other day we went to Wal-Mart to look for Halloween candy. (We'd sort of eaten all the candy we bought already...) But we couldn't find any! All we found was Christmas decorations where the Halloween stuff was supposed to be.
  
  I personally would rather wait until after Thanksgiving to see Christmas commercials. Or at least the week of Thanksgiving. Any earlier than that and I just don't care yet. I'm not in that mood. But there is a woman I work with who has all her Christmas shopping done already. And the presents are WRAPPED too.
  
  Crazy, if you ask me.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• the_infernal_optimist said on Nov 01, 2007....

  December 1st gets my vote. At least wait until Black Friday, darnit!
  
  I'll be grumbly with you in the corner. :-p You could throw random fish scales at the screen when those commercials come on, but you might just end up with a stinky tv.
  
  ~Infernal
  

• sweetsoul said on Nov 01, 2007....

  I think the timing is just right for Canada...or at least where I am. Right after Hallowe'en the Christmas stuff/cimmercials are out...in fact some start after our Thanksgiving which is early October.
   
  Have a heart for the retailers ed! You might forget you need to drop a bundle on Christmas presents if they didn't advertise before Dec. 23. ;)

• Zayda said on Nov 01, 2007....

  I wish they would wait until after Thanksgiving at least.
  
  
  I, btw, just saw a Wal*Mart Christmas commercial.
  
  
  grrrr...

• queenparanoia said on Nov 01, 2007....

  oh ed if only you could see it here in the philippines we started te echristmas stuff here during the "ber months" that means on september... oh yeah that early. filipinos are very into christmas.... well that's because mostly some people here are catholics... now i'm starting my xmas shopping early!!!!!!!!!! =)

• rightwingwizard said on Nov 01, 2007....

  never
   
  rww

• Pontius_Pilate said on Nov 01, 2007....

  while overall I agree with rww, to be a bit more realistic, at minimum, the day after thanksgiving.

• quietone said on Nov 01, 2007....

  I think Dec. 1st is a good time.  But, its all about money like the rest of the marketing. 

• Twylarants said on Nov 01, 2007....

  Doesn't really matter to me. 

• Fallyn said on Nov 01, 2007....

  i think they shouldn't start till the day after thanksgiving at the SOONEST.
  
  but i'll never get my wish. *sigh*
  

• wombat said on Nov 01, 2007....

  Any time after Thanksgiving...one holiday at a time, please!

• rupert7 said on Nov 01, 2007....

  silver - The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: The reason for establishing December 25th as Christmas is somewhat obscure,but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice,when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the rebirth of the sun. The Roman Saturnalia ( a festival dedicated to Saturn,the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time,and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration.
  
  The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: "The date of Christs birth is not known.The gospels indicate neither the day for the month."
  
  It is a totally commercial exercise so why not start on Jan 1st and be done with!
  

• Fallyn said on Nov 01, 2007....

  *laughing*......good point.
  
  i just want christmas to be good.....a fun, good christmas....
  
  i'm so tired of filling up under a tree with gifts....but it seems like if it's not overflowing then we haven't done our job! hmmph.
  

• jadestar said on Nov 02, 2007....

  hi.....just a comment about the chosen date.......I guess it depends on where or what you read.....
  One source says that the Jewish "Festival of lights" is celebrated at that time.....
  The Apostles likened that celebration to Jesus who was "the light come into this world..." ...it started to become a bit of a tradition with them........
  When Constantinople was baptised a Christian, he apparently wanted to make that tradition a public holiday in placeof pagan holidays & rituals at the time......
  Anyway, to me I like the sound of celebrating at that time the "Light come into this world"...and I get excited when lights start going up.......that's just my own privte celebrtion....I don't realy care what the rest of tradition says.....

• mrhowto said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Totally agree, sometimes they take it all too far, I suppose the earlier they show them, the more potential to make more money there is if people start buying their products early.
  
  Where I work, we deal with restaurant bookings, so we advertise 'Christmas party bookings' from AUGUST!  Usually by mid october most companies have booked their xmas parties and most restaurants are fully booked up for the rest of the year.
  
  So I guess there is a bit of depencency on what your business is too.  If we didn't advertise from back in August, we would havemissed out on the hugest chunk of business all year in this field.
  

• skald said on Nov 02, 2007....

  I had my first Christmas card at the end of October. A woman in Wales always sends me her card so soon and it irritates me all the time as it only takes a few days for a card between Iceland and Wales
  I think they should wait until December with commercials and such.
  

• Battycat said on Nov 02, 2007....

  1st of December for me, but the christmas decorations have been up in shops for a couple of weeks now, and tv ads, well i think they started in September :-(

• wakingharmony said on Nov 02, 2007....

  I so get it!!! At the Dollar Store here We went in in the beginning of Aug for school supplies (school starts in Aug here..) And I was To the lady who was stocking shelves "Christmas!!!!!! all ready?!?!?!? She was ..Yep... I am like comercialisim. It is like Chritmas just isnt what it used to be which hasnt been for me for a long time anyway.... but I am such a sentimentalist I cant go in the stores without crying when I hear Silent Night..... I cry everytime reminds me of happy days and singing in 5th grade I sang a higher version the harmonizing part  I got tingles doin that... I loved harmonizing  lol weird how my name so fits my life

• PassionTraveler said on Nov 02, 2007....

  I can live with anything starting AFTER Halloween. Prior to that it's just wrong.
  
  Keep in mind that although we'd like to see holiday messages wait until December, the day after Thanksgiving is a huge shopping day and there's no way in hell that even we the consumer would permit not seeing at least some holiday marketing prior to that date.
  
  It's marketing, yes, but it's also informative and helps in the holiday planning process, layaways, and such.
  
  I've worked in Retail and Marketing, and frankly, I doubt you'd ever be able to lobby for any holiday marketing starting later than Halloween. You'd be lucky if they would at least abide Halloween as the start date!
  
  But if I lived in a perfect world and could dictate my choices for this: Ideally, holiday marketing would start to the public around two weeks before Thanksgiving, but we all know marketers can't resist jumping the gun. I've seen some commercials start as early as July depending on the message and purpose, particularly where they require long lead times for advance ordering, shipping, etc.
  
  PT
  

• silverwhisper said on Nov 02, 2007....

  u-i: that makes me intensely crabby. i was in a store a few years ago in the mall and they were decorated in mid-frigging-october!
  
  kyle: no way, they already put the halloween stuff away before it was halloween?! that would just piss me off, man. ideally, i'd love it if they would wait until black friday, too, but we both know that isn't realistic. btw, my sister sometimes does the same as that crazy lady. do you know how annoying that is?! imagine if jack had been doing that your entire life...
  
  infernal: i won't damage the TV but i get awfully tempted sometimes, i'll confess...
  
  ss: please don't make me trout-smack you... :p
  
  super z: i know we discussed that wal-mart commercial but it still irritates the hell out of me on principle...
  
  queen: you too are awaiting a trout-smack, missy... :p
  
  rww: holy crap, dude, good to see you again!
  
  pontius pilate: yeah, black friday would be nice but we know that isn't realistic...dude, a frigging craft store gets ready for christmas in september. i refuse to set foot in 'em in the latter half of the year!
  
  quietone: see, i would love that!
  
  twyla: seriously? you're the only person i've ever met who doesn't have a firm opinion on it. that's actually kinda cool!
  
  fallyn: yeah, me neither...
  
  wombat: hell, they're even crowding out freaking halloween now!
  
  rupe: one does wonder those things, no? IIRC, there's a school of thinking that jesus was born in the summer some time, something about astrological phenomenon visible in that part of the world or something. oddly, i think i've written a blog about that once upon a time...
  
  jadestar: nice to see you again too, it's been a while! that sounds weird about the apostles, considering they had a former rabbi among them.
  
  mr howto: it's been a very, very long time! yeah, corporate holiday parties are a different thing entirely, and that i can understand...it's just the consumer end of things that i resent.
  
  skald: that would irritate the heck out of me--but of course, you're a much more laid-back kind of person than i am. :> have you ever asked her why she sends it so darned early?
  
  battycat: in september?! in the name of all that is good and decent, WTF is wrong with them?!
  
  WH: i'm sorry, had i seen that in august, i might well have become violent!
  
  PT: you know, i used to work for a manufacturer of bras. i've seen orders for special holiday-themed products as early as june of that year. it's incredibly depressing. so i understand what you're saying...intellectually. the rest of me however just wants to kick and scream a little bit. :D
  
  ed

• beyondtheveil said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Ed- The enjoyment of Christmas is not a holiday like Thanksgiving, it is a season. There is a spirit before Christmas like no other. Its good for the soul, its good for the national economy. We decorate early, we put up the tree early, I have a second full size dining room table just to put my Christmas village on next to the tree in the library.
  
  That room is such a source of comfort, relaxation, and good feelings that there is hardly any such thing as too early. I like the "Christmasy" feeling to hit early November. Stores and commercials can start prepping me for it any time they want to.
  
  
  

• Twylarants said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Ed- yeah, sometimes I'm surprised myself at the things that don't bother me. It's the libertarian in me I suppose.  Feh! Who cares?

• silverwhisper said on Nov 02, 2007....

  beyond: ah, you're a lighter-hearted person than i am, i suppose. :>
  
  twyla: i didn't realize you're a libertarian. that's pretty cool but i'll confess i'm surprised i haven't seen you commenting on some of the political blogs around here (bloc, muckpar). :>
  
  ed

• crybabylu said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Sorry, Ed, if I knew you had conducted a poll on Christmas commercials, I forgot it, or didn't know, anyhow, I posted a blog over an hour ago on my site,  almost on the same thing, so I deleted it when I saw yours...(I guess we were NSYNC, huh?   But, let me tell you, I wholeheartedly agree with you that it is way too early to start thinking about Christmas, at least for me......thanks for your blog, the comments are really good, don't you think? .....LOL, Dee

• Twylarants said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Ah, see Ed, that's the difference between me and anyone who's not me...
  I don't debate.  I think what I think.  Don't care what anyone else thinks
  

• preacherman said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Yeah!  Another Libertarian!  So am I ,twyla  (Is it alright ot call u                                                Twyla?)

  Dee

• Twylarants said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Preacher & Dee- Get outta town!  You're a libby too?  Then you can call me Cath!

• crybabylu said on Nov 02, 2007....

  what JR, is saying, Twlyarants, is that he and I are both Libertarians. 

  I asked him to sign it me and Dee, but anyhow, we both thinks it neat that we found another libertarian in the soulcast family.  I bet you, there are more than we know, huh?  I wish we were as big in number as the other parties.  But, of course, the thought does occur to me, maybe you aren't talking about politics, but

  rather a system of thought, which would include us to, I believe.  LOL, Dee          

  P.S., I was just editing my comment, when your comment flashed on, well what do you know?  hello Cath!

• Battycat said on Nov 02, 2007....

  Yup - the summer holiday ads will start on new years day, if not before. The Easter eggs will probably start appearing just after new year as well :-(( 

• pookiedookie said on Nov 02, 2007....

  I was seeing Christmas stuff at the first of October, and I thought it was nuts

  then, and still do!

• silverwhisper said on Nov 03, 2007....

  dee: no big deal, SC is a big place, you know? :>
  
  twyla: me, i like to convince people. :D
  
  preacherman: see, i didn't know you guys are libertarians, either! this is really cool! :>
  
  battycat: i must say, it's really irritating!
  
  pd: dude, it isn't you that's nuts--it's them!
  
  ed

• skald said on Nov 03, 2007....

  ED.  I never asked her because I did not want to hurt her. I think she does not want to be too late, but she is way to early. 

• carmachu said on Nov 03, 2007....

  Day after Thanksgiving. Not one day sooner.

• pookiedookie said on Nov 03, 2007....

  i'm with you, carmachu, not a day sooner than the day after Thanksgiving...jr

• silverwhisper said on Nov 03, 2007....

  skald: well, i can certainly understand that. :>
  
  carm: if only, huh?
  
  duke: like i said to carm: if frigging only!
  
  ed

• carmachu said on Nov 03, 2007....

  It USED to be that way. I remember.....damn Corps!

   

• Zayda said on Nov 03, 2007....

  As if the commercials weren't bad enough, they are already starting to advertise upcoming showings of Christmas movies on some channels. Between that and the Christmas commercials, my son was wandering around the house singing Jingle Bells--both the original and the "monkey smells" variation today.
  
  
  *sigh*

• silverwhisper said on Nov 03, 2007....

  carm: i know, i remember it too, man!
  
  super z: gorrammed commercialization!
  
  ed

• kelly said on Nov 03, 2007....

  I'd have to say that since getting rid of my television in 1991 it hasn't been an issue for me.  :-)

• silverwhisper said on Nov 04, 2007....

  i take you don't listen to radio, either? :p
  
  ed

• Fallyn said on Nov 04, 2007....

  
  
  i was gonna post more about my kids and how much crap they get for christmas...but that's probably enough for it's own post. :P
  

• silverwhisper said on Nov 05, 2007....

  i think you're right about that. :>
  
  ed

• pookiedookie said on Nov 11, 2007....

  it is stupid to have all these christmas commercials before thanksgivin

• silverwhisper said on Nov 11, 2007....

  dude, i'm right there with you!
  
  ed

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