Posted on 12/10/2009 2:18:47 PM PST by mlizzy
When it comes to greetings during the Winter Shopping Spree vaguely associated with the 25th of December, I guess I'm hopelessly old-fashioned.
I say "Merry Christmas."
Some will think me too retro. Too bad. I'm like Linus from the "Peanuts" cartoons. The birth of Christ is the reason for the season.
But if someone offers a "Happy Hanukkah" or "Merry Kwanzaa" -- even those timid souls with their safely corporate "Happy holidays" -- I thank them. They're being kind.
Yet the other day I was watching TV, and saw something astounding: a commercial for the Illinois Lottery, aimed at getting people to buy lottery tickets as gifts. It's sung to the much-beloved Christmas hymn "Joy to the World," which you'll hear in just about every church on Christmas Eve. Here are the new lyrics, as approved by the Illinois political bureaucrats:
Joy to that guy/who took away your futon
And the man who shampooed and conditioned
Your carpets
And the lady who constructed/Your amazing cat tower
Plus the butcher who sliced your beef paper thin
And the neighbor who rocks out softly after ten.
On screen, the carpet-cleaner guy kneels on a rug. He's happy. The cat's mistress is happy. The rocking neighbor (who whispers while singing) is so old, he probably remembers when Black Sabbath played the Amphitheatre. He's happy. The happy butcher slices the beef paper thin, so you can save on food costs and use the savings to buy him even more lottery tickets.
Then comes a revealing voice-over that speaks directly to the heart of The Chicago Way and invokes one of the pillars of Illinois politics:
Cash kickbacks.
"Joy someone with holiday scratch-offs from the Illinois Lottery," says a narrator. "Who knows? They might joy you back."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Yep, the sacred Christmas music ought to be off-limits for advertising. But since it is already mixed in with the secular music as part of the soundtrack for the annual winter orgy of commerce, I’m not surprised that some folks might not know any better, or care.
I flip the channel when the obnoxious Best Buy commercial comes on with carolers singing about big screen TVs.
Heck, I do that with ANY commercial.
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