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Monday December 19, 05
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07:03 PM - He sees you when you're sleeping. eeeps!
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Is it just me, or do all the television commercial Santa Clauses this year look creepy? The Santa Claus from the Wal-Mart commercial featuring wholesome Garth Brooks looks like Jack Black.
The Santa Claus from the Kay Jewelers, Staples, and GM commercials look like drunkard bikers in Santa costumes. Mrs. Claus in the Kay Jewelers spot is even scarier!
If I'd had to look at these Santas when I was a kid, I'd have sworn off Christmas forever.
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Sunday December 18, 05
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10:42 PM - All Things To All People
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I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when corporations move quickly to embrace new and growing market segments. From a business sense standpoint, that's what they should do.
There's something distasteful, though, about the way Wal-Mart does this. For a few months in a row, the local Wal-Mart had kept an On Sale sign beneath the DVD version of "The Passion of The Christ." The regular price behind the On Sale sign was the same as that on the On Sale tag. I had guessed as much anyway. It was just Wal-Mart's lame attempt to court Christian shoppers.
Wal-Mart has always tried to operate with a squeaky-clean image. Back in the day, it was the champion of goods made in the U.S.A. It was also a major customer of the edited albums put out by bands thought to be too offensive for the GARP. The only such example of this I ever cared about was Nirvana's "Rape Me" transformed into "Waif Me."
So anyway....Wal-Mart Corp. wants to make Christians believe that Wal-Mart Corp. cares about Christians; however, as we all should know, corporations haven't the capacity to care about anyone. These policies are the result of the pursuit of niche market exploitation and ultimately, profit growth.
Wal-Mart's posturing (at least in this manner) would not continue another day. I ripped the On Sale sign off the shelving faceplate; crumpled it up; and threw it on top of the video game display case. For a couple moments I felt a twinge of guilt--as if I was somehow persecuting Christians by ripping that attention-grabbing sign down.
My little action wasn't about Christians or Christianity though. I actually liked "The Passion of the Christ." I found it a faith inspiring, albeit hyperviolent, account of Jesus' last days. No. This was about Wal-Mart Corp. pushing policies intended to associate Wal-Mart Corp. with human values: values it is simply incapable of possessing. I couldn't have asked for a better validation of my actions and my indignance than finding Season 2 of "The L Word" being sold in the next aisle. Corporations do not possess the capacity for irony either.
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