Of all the things we hate about the holidays (and if you've read enough of these things you know it's a lot), the marketing may be the thing that bothers us the most (and some of us
work in advertising!).
Holiday ads are just so smarmy, so materialistic and gross, they're really hard to watch. And impossible to avoid.
So there we were, innocently watching football the other day, when yet another holiday ad showed up. But this one caught our eye. It starts in the standard way. A dad and his daughter announce they're going to the playground but — plot twist! — they're actually going to Best Buy. The ad ends with the mom having bought the family many wonderful electronic gifts from 'the playground.'
Standard stuff, really. Except. EXCEPT! Go back and watch the ad. That final scene with the family together. There's no tree. The gifts are all wrapped in blue and silver. And, the big kicker, there's a menorah in the window behind the mom!
Holy Hanukkah Harry, these smarmy, materialistic people are Jews!
OK, so it's not a total lock. The dad is Black which, well, he could be Jewish but it's unlikely. The mom's a redhead so that's something, but she looks pretty goyishe to our eyes. So it's a subtle thing. Still, kinda nice to get some latkes mixed in with all that honeyed ham this season.
So, does this mean we're converts to this most Christian of holidays, or at least the marketing thereof? Nah.