Merry Commercial Christmas

I always used to love the commercials that ran at this time of year. Somewhere I have a video tape of a bunch of Christmas specials from the 80's, complete with commercials. I remember one with Ronald McDonald and some kids ice skating. There was a great one with E.T. that always starting airing right on Thanksgiving, during the parade. David Copperfield did one for Kodak or Polaroid. Then there was the coffee one - Folgers? Maxwell House? - where the college age son surprises his little sister and parents by showing up and making coffee on Christmas morning.

I don't remember now what all the commercials I used to love were even for, but I do remember the thing that they all had in common. They focused more on the "magic of the season" than on the actual product. It was more about how the product fit into the Christmas season than just a normal commercial with some Christmas theming.

Not anymore. These days the commercials are all about how Christmas will be a dismal failure if you don't buy whichever product they are pushing. It's ridiculous! I always hear people complaining about how Christmas has gotten so commercial, and usually I just shrug it off, but I'm starting to think that they might have a point!

I used to look forward to the Christmas commercials every year. They always starting airing during the Macys Parade, never before that. This year I think they started around Halloween. And they're been running constantly since then. What they lack in quality they make up for with quantity, I guess.

There was a cute Coke one that followed a little girl as she grew up and interacted with Santa each year that was very Christmassy and sweet. It seemed more like a "Merry Christmas from Cake" kind of thing than a "Buy Coke at Christmas" sort of ad. Other than that, though, it's been a parade of "You must buy this or Christmas will be ruined" commercials. The Verizon one with the pony is funny and creative, but still not at all "magical".

I think I'll dig out my old video and watch the specials on it instead of on TV or dvd. It's amazing what a difference those old commercials used to make in the whole feel of the season. The ads now just stress me out and make me feel like I ought to be buying more Right This Minute - (Buy our Stuff or Else!). I need a good dose of "Merry Christmas from the folks at Coke/the Budweiser Clydesdales/McDonalds/whoever, and by the way our products go great with Christmas."