Reader Scott says he spotted some nasty summertime Christmas Creep in the free NYC area paper “Metro”. Apparently the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular is under the impression that “Christmas is right around the corner.” In August.
… the show starts it’s run on November 7th! I’m still too high on Halloween candy on Nov 7th to start thinking about Xmas (Full disclosure: I’m Jewish, so I really couldn’t give a crap about Xmas anyway, but you get my point).
We get your point loud and clear, Scott.
Have you seen some Christmas Creep? Tell us about it at tips@consumerist.com.
More From Consumerist
-
Who Is Really Making Money When We Don’t Buy The Music We Listen To?
-
SiriusXM Takes Away Free Subscriptions From People Who Didn’t Win Them, Internet Is Outraged
-
Silly Trojan! Boston Mayor Doesn’t Want Any Of Your Free Vibrators In His Public Plazas
-
Google Launches Subscription Music Service, World Continues To Spin
-
NYC Shuts Down Trojan's Roving Vibrator Carts Since No One Is Allowed To Have Fun Anymore
I don’t really care for Christmas a whole lot. The creep and everywhere inundation with it starting in October or earlier has totally burned me out to the point I loathe the entire season. Don’t get me started on the damn music either.
I purposely avoid basic shopping and when I do go to stores I try to leave as soon as possible. So I spend less money those months.
The older you get, the closer August seems to December…
Problem here is, OP is an idiot.
@snoop-blog: True! Halloween is most enjoyable! Although, I do like the day after Halloween just as much – so much candy on sale, so little time.
Kinda like the day after Easter.
As far as my family is concerned, holidays happen when we can all manage days off. We’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in December and enjoyed 4th of July BBQ’s and fireworks toward August in the past.
What can I say? Time and a half is hard to resist.
Never lose sight of the real meaning of the holidays, I always say.
(Although, don’t bother taking the kids trick or treating in November. It just confuses people. A lot. ;p )
It’s almost the end of August… so it is almost time for Christmas Creep to rear its very fugly head.
The Costco I shop at has Christmas themed ribbon and gift wrap on sale already. They also have Halloween decorations on sale.
bleh.
Don’t care, it’s only 4 months. And it’s friggin’ hard to get tickets.
Oh, for gosh sakes, they acknowledge its summer in the ad. Its not like there is a scientific definition of “right around the corner”. And the bottom line is that their show starts in 3 months. Advertising this far out is hardly unreasonable and is also hardly comparable to a retail store putting out Christmas decorations. This is just selling advance tickets to show. Its not in the same league.
Our family started a new tradition last year that has REALLY helped to put our hearts back into the spirit of what Christmas is all about.
Each member of our family picks a charity. Instead of buying useless crap, we make donations on behalf of one another to their charities of choice.
NO MORE …
” Christmas Creep “
Long lines @ stores
Useless stress trying to find the ” perfect gift “
Credit card debt
Overpriced Hallmark cards, gift wrap, etc.
Shipping
… and the list goes on.
The only exception to this we have is perishable items like food or drink that we may take to each other’s houses to enjoy during the holiday season.
The nicest thing is I have begun to look forward to Christmas once again !
I hate Christmas, well the commercialized garbage it has become. It is like some sort of torture to be endured. It is a religious holiday that has been corrupted by greed.
One thing is that everyone I know knows that they never will get a card from me. I have since I was a kid expressed my disdain for Hallmark and their brand of cheese and wondered why almost nobody seemed to notice the scam they are running. I swear they have a stupid card for everything.
I am also lucky that I have never been to the Radio City Christmas Show. (I have only been to Radio City twice and that was for the Tonys.) It seems every year that they start it earlier and earlier. I am sure that Cablevision will get the brilliant idea in their heads to start doing it in the summer, too. (Hey Dolans, if you decide to do it I want a piece of the action for thinking it up!)
I basically avoid Rockefeller Center around Christmas time for sanity’s sake. If I want to see the damn tree, I can see it when I watch the news on channel 4 since they love to show it when they go to break.
Gawker’s own Kotaku said nearly the same thing…
[kotaku.com]
“Winter is almost around the corner everyone and that means tons of skiing and snowboarding for us Colorado residents.”
I live in Canada and I haven’t even begun to prepare for winter’s apparent near-instant onset! I shall gather my snowmobile and toque with great haste!
@snoop-blog: If your mother was born Jewish, so were you.
Everyone gets all uptight about stores capitalizing on christmas. I’ve got news for everyone, almost every situation that every entity can be in is an oportunity that some can and should capitalize on.
Example: Funerals, you may think the funural parlor is providing a service because they care where the reality is they are capitalizing on the fact that people die and the love ones need to do something with the body. How else do you explain dishing out $8K on a coffin?
“Of course, if that is out of your price range we have something a bit more, how should I say, modest. I mean, if that’s what your grandmother would have wanted”
I’m sick and tired of Christmas before it comes because of the creep.
Christmas music sucks and I have hats and shirts that say so.
Trees piled on the sidewalk the week after like dead bodies are pathetic.
Any store-
Cashier: Did you find everything you were looking for?
Me: No, but I can’t stand the x-mas music any longer.
@snoop-blog: @pgaulrapp: Judaism is a religion, not a race. You cant be born a religious entity. In fact the very thing that makes you your religion is the fact that you choose it.
I honestly expect more out of the two of you.
/wags finger
All the xmas haters are making me sad. Sure it’s become commercial, but that doesn’t mean you have to live it like that. It boils down to a happy, warm fall feeling that involves hanging out with your family a lot. Strangers down here are even nicer (apparently not the ones posting here
) because it’s just a good feeling in the air. Weird people are wearing ugly theme sweaters to make fun of, gigantic trucks hang wreaths on their grills… Oh, and I work for a state University, so I get two weeks of paid vacation. ^_^ Yep yep, xmas is the best. Nothing beats my mommy’s cinnamon rolls every xmas morning.
@Wormfather is Wormfather: I thought ethnic Jews and religious Jews were different. Have I missed some politically correct correction on that idea?
I decorated my cube at work for Hanukkah last year, and now everyone I work with thinks I’m Jewish. I throw out random Yiddish words now.
In just a few more years, Christmas will start in January, and end when you have so much debt that the bank reposesses your organs and has you cut up for parts.
I call foul: no self-respecting Jewish mother would name her child “Scott”.
Anyway, Christmas is for the kids and the kid inside the adult. If you don’t have any kid left in you, then at least try to enjoy the lights and decorations at which is usually a pretty dreary time of year (darkest, longest night, rain and sleet and snow and ice). In my opinion, they should move xmas to the end of January, where it would better received because by that point, I’m totally sick of winter and a little color and energy would be nice.
as annoying as it is to see christmas stuff before its even close to halloween, tickets probably sell out pretty quickly what with all the tourist traffic coming in for the holidays. If anything i think its a good idea for anyone thinking about going to buy the tickets as early as possible
@mariospants: Are you Kidding me? Try telling my mother that! She has much self respect and we both love my name!
I’m the OP, and if you must know, I was named for my mother’s father (Sydney).
In the Jewish religion we don’t name a child the same name as a living relative (that’s why you’ll never meet a Moishe Jr.). We take the first letter of the first name and give the child a name we like with that letter.
So there!
Thanks for the reminder. I tried to get tickets in mid September last year and every Saturday for the entire season was sold out already! I guess I better call now.
Stupid Hobby Lobby has SEVERAL aisles of stuff up alredy!!! My question is who is going to buy this stuff now, paying full, original retail price? Everybody I know has their Christmas stuff put away, doesn’t want to see it, etc, until about December. I don’t see how they think they are “getting the jump” on the other stores if nobody buys the stuff.
Also have stuff in Cracker Barrell!
I don’t care what religion anybody is, and I do respect everybodys right to their belief. But you’ve got to admit, when midnight rolls around on Dec. 25th, there is a peace heard in the air that I’ve never heard before. I’ve got Jewish friends, I’ve got Muslim friends. I celebrate their holidays with them. But on 12/24, people from all walks of life you don’t know greet you, shake your hand, say Hi, and from my perspective, maybe that’s what it’s all about. And nothing will compete with watching my boys sleeping by the tree waiting to hear Santa. They’re immune to the violence in the world, at least at the moment. Maybe some posters on here might disagree, and it might be that you live in a part of the world that sees violence daily. For you, I wish you peace. I wish you didn’t have to live that way. But for now, my kids will find things to donate to others (for your holiday name here), and all I want is a big old New England snow storm. I’m sick of these green rainy Christmas’. I want snow in feet! I want a fire in the fireplace and Bing Freakin’ Crosby on the radio.
Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Whatever fits. I hope you have a great day. In August. And I win for the first cheap holiday card of the season.
I agree that 7 November is too early to worry about Christmas, or attend a Christmas show. However, since Reader Scott “does not give a crap” about Christmas, I say Hanukkah/Chanukah can SUCK IT!
However, if someone is planning to travel to NYC, they may want to start planning now, e.g., travel arrangements, hotel reservations, etc.
Haven’t seen Xmas marketing, but we did start seeing Halloween ghosts at our local Vons at the end of July. Just wrong… at least hold it til Labor Day!