Companies need to stop manipulating consumers during the holiday season

By Eden Ovadia

The holidays themselves, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc., do not bother me in the slightest. What does in fact overwhelm me, however, is the manipulation of consumers by companies and merchants that use the holidays as a marketing tool to force people to spend more of their hard earned money on “stuff” that no one needs.

During this season, almost everywhere you look you can’t avoid the notion that the holidays are upon us. Every local store will have the area decorated with an intense amount of Christmas decorations (with of course a small section set aside for the Jewish people celebrating Hanukkah) and an even larger amount of Christmas-themed products on display.

It’s ridiculous how many products these companies are able to make, by changing a simple logo design to have Santa smiling on it or changing the shape to represent a Christmas tree. Tupperware is no longer clear, but clear with snowflakes. Scotch tape now has Santa’s sleigh instead of the trademark green pattern.

According to the Statista, which gathers statistics and surveys for a variety of topics, “In 2018, holiday retail sales in the United States were forecast to amount to about 719.17 billion U.S. dollars.”

The holiday season should be dedicated to celebrating a variety of cultures and embracing the love in your life. Yet this idea has diminished over time as so many companies have shifted towards using these themes, these pure notions of family, peace and love into a deep worship of the all mighty dollar.

The wrappers with holiday symbols, the constant playing of holiday music, the commercials playing on the sense of family and worship are not helping people embrace the holiday spirit, rather they simply distract consumer’s attention until they believe that spending will buy them the holiday spirit.

Companies need to stop using the holidays to play into their cheap ploys to make money. We want the real spirit of the holidays back. Bring back the love, the warmth, and the caring and the real meaning of the holiday season.