Is Political Correctness Slipping For Retailers This Year?
I’m not one really for Political Correctness (PC), well some of it I think is a bit too much, but I do find it in this day and age that the use of ‘Merry Christmas’ for a retailer or service provider would be going against the marketing trend. People find that when the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ is used, that other winter celebrations are not as important and are left out when it comes to the winter season and holidays.
I noticed that when I purchased my White Chocolate Mocha from Blenz (a local coffee franchise) last night that they had ‘Merry Christmas’ on their decorative winter season cup.
According to my thoughts on Political Correctness, technically should this not say ‘Season Greetings’ or ‘Happy Holidays’? If they are going to put ‘Merry Christmas’ on the cup should they not also observe events such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa too?
Don’t get me wrong I love the Christmas season but if I was to celebrate other holidays throughout the winter season I would want representation too, or at least a more generic accepted phrase so I did not think my celebrations were not as special.
What do you think? Or am I alone in thinking this?
Yeah I bought my Milk Hot Chocolate today and thought the same thing. Then I brushed it off as whatever and took it to mean happy holidays. I think sometimes we can be to PC. I think the term Merry Christmas has morphed over the years just as the holiday has. It has become commercialized (sadly, or not depending on your religious views I guess). I do think the cups look cool though and Blenz is local and thus I will support them fully.
Is it possible that they have multiple versions of the cup - some say Merry Christmas, some say Happy Hanukkah, etc.?
Just throwing that out there…
They could just put as many sayings as possible around the cup too =) Or just leave the text out because I too like the graphic work.
Derek, no they only have Merry Christmas on them. I’m not offended by it. If you are I guess you can always tell them and let them know about it
Personally, it does not / would not offend me regardless of what they have on the cup. But you’re right, if one is offended by it then the best thing to do is let them know.
I was raised Catholic so I do celebrate Christmas. But I think all this sensitivity around the holidays and PC-ness goes a bit overboard
On the assumption that you celebrate Christmas, would you be offended if it said Happy Hanukkah on it? I can’t imagine that anybody would be. So why should somebody who doesn’t celebrate Christmas be offended by a Merry Christmas cup?
Vancouver is a multi-cultural place and that’s what makes it as exciting as it is. The Christians get their hands painted with henna and rock out to the dhol drums at Diwali, the heterosexuals line the parade route for Pride and the agnostics wish each other Merry Christmas.
I think we beat ourselves up too much about all this PC stuff.
But yes, the coolest thing to do would be to have multiple cups, each one celebrating a different festival.
P.S. Doesn’t the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster celebrate something around this time of the year too? Maybe they need a cup.
I personally wouldn’t be offended if the cups had other sayings on it. It just had me thinking that I have heard people complain in the past about not having representation of their religion or special holiday season.
Sometimes PC goes a bit far huh?
It could be that I was just from a very catholic area, but I remember 10-15 years ago that everyone said Merry Christmas. Then a few years ago, everyone was all panicking trying to make sure that they wish the correct tidings on all of us. Now, it seems as if we try to be as generic as possible.
Why don’t we have the cups say: “Have a happy day between December 24th and December 26th?”
I’m not overly religious, so I’m not offended by getting a certain greeting from a person or in print, but it does irritate me if I say ‘Merry Christmas’ to someone, and they freak out. If you don’t participate in the holiday, polity inform me. . .
P.S. I love the new comment styling! (Not sure how long it’s been like that…)
The new style went in a bit ago. If you’re following the RSS feed alone you wouldn’t take notice. I didn’t really write about it either I just did it.
I also separated my posts (when I am logged in) by just reflecting the bubble
Still Catholic, and still in the dark about what the big fuss is. I have Sikh and Hindu friends, and thus get happy Diwalis. Just because I don’t partake in it, does that mean it’s wrong for it to be shared with me? It’s not like it subtracts from anyone else’s holidays either. If you want to emphasize your own celebration, you could always politely reply, “Happy (insert-holiday-name-here)”, yes?
Mind you, I might be missing something and would be happy to be enlightened.
Stop-it with all this PC mumble-gumble. To me, Christmas is no longer just a Christian or Catholic holiday. It is a grand celebration of the season; a chance for everyone to stop, give thanks, make a wish, say hello, or say Merry Christmas. There nothing wrong with that. It is neither an expression of inclusion or exclusion. It is an expression of friendship. I say bravo to Blenz Coffee in bring back centuries of good community. At the heart of all this, expressing joy to everyone is the foundation of community.
People will always complain about PC. I always have found it a tad silly and sometimes I wonder why people even bother trying. I just found it weird how most retailers try and be as PC as possible, and for one company to kind of skip that just caught my eye.