Marketing the Holidays

Marketing the Holidays Meriem Terzi

The holidays are arguably the time of year that everyone is eager for. Whether the holidays have a religious Song Tran

Tightly knit crowds gathered around Mirabel outlet, despite the chilly Quebec weather.

Reasons that could explain this crowdedness are the Holiday season, Boxing Day, Post-Boxing Day, boredom, and desperation for socialization.

How I ended up here was more justified, while not completely guilt-free: I don’t live with my family and we wanted to spend some time together since I Maïa Fukuyama

With the winter break approaching rapidly, we are unable to escape the looming arrival of the holiday season.

For some, such festivities are enticing, promising warmth and a sense of belonging amid the harsh and cold Canadian winter, characterized by the scent of pine wafting through hallways bathed under golden lights, as well as the hurried anticipation of a thousand overheating bodies under down jackets crammed together in line before Christmas Eve. or a secular meaning to people, most of the world gathers to celebrate and have a lovely time with their families and friends.

The importance of the holidays never ceases to increase in the western world and; subsequently, so do the efforts to exploit them for profit. Now, commercializing holidays might seem inevitable when living in a capitalist society, but the marketing of holiday prodhaven’t seen them in ages.

In the end, I admit that I ended up spending quite a lot of money at Mirabel, contributing to unethical brands’ profits and to an unsafe atmosphere during these times.

A sense of normality floated in the air of Mirabel Outlet (besides COVID). People were laughing, eating together, talked like they hadn’t seen each other in ages (which was likely the case). is truly incomparable to that of any other; a common feeling of ease runs through the veins of all as they are finally allowed to rest.

Of course, no fantastical moment of happiness is pure in all its forms; many feel very differently during the holiday season.

The waning sound of Christmas jingles through the streets may, in fact, cause some great distress. The truth is, not everyone holds the same special memories of the holidays that are fed to us like fast food through the media. To those people I say: It’s okay! ucts plays mostly on guilttripping parents. The concept of gifts for Christmas is a great way to commercialize this holiday.

Today, Christmas is solely a ploy for companies to profit from. Whether it be extravagant decorations that you can see on your neighbours’ house, or wish lists of gifts at exorbitant prices that the kids’ friends are expecting, parents are guilt-tripped into this competition for the best gift; or,

Thankfully, some of these moments were captured (for my photography project). For example, you can see the ecstatic expression of the gentleman on the left in this photo (see top right).

This photo also demonstrates the Outlet’s plausible efforts to regulate their avid supporters by asking them to form lines outside of the store.

However, inside shops like Brown—where the most popular things people were interested in at the time (including my mother) were the dozens of racks of extra promoted shoes organized near the cashiers. One could wonder whether there was enough space for social distancing.

Every party involved in the economy of Brown

It’s okay that your memories are not all of joy, just like how it is okay to not know what to say in class when the teacher asked other children how great their Christmas breaks were.

In fact, it’s valid to not participate in any festivities hailing from any culture, religion, or societal consumerist pressure that you may feel you must adhere to.

Your feelings of unease are justified if the memories you have are bathed in darkness instead of LEDs and the glow of a hearth.

Walking through the in other words, competing for who will spend the most

money on gifts. It is a vicious cycle.

Even the origins of Christmas’ mascot, Santa Claus, is a capitalist icon. Santa was based on St-Nicholas, must believe that the racks were thick enough to replace the plexiglass barrier where coronavirus cannot surpass, regardless of the meter distance.

I bought myself a great Calvin Klein cardigan and remembered how crazily occupied the cashiers were. CK had 4 or 5 cashiers and they were sweating from processing the mass amount of clothes people bought. The line for paying was long and packed. I could feel the impatient breath from two young Indian girls standing behind me in line for 15 minutes.

The number of people that were inside CK compared to the number of people waiting in line to get in the store could make an interesting hypothesis for streets during the holidays when you feel low can make you feel like you’re in the midst of some grand movie being filmed, where the set is focused on the happiness of others and never of yourself.

On New Year’s Eve, the loneliness can be deafening, intoxicating even. In a room full of people with hearts beating, screaming the countdown while it streams through a flatscreen, you still feel alone.

The drink in your glass becomes less of a commodity and more of a necessity, and those streets, again, a bishop of Greek descent that used his inheritance on

the sick and the poor.

Ironically enough, his image is now used to profit off of the relatively poor to make the opulent minority

Enjoying the Holiday Spirit at Mirabel Outlet With Me

even richer. The modernsociology major students.

Either only a small group of people enjoyed CK products so much that they occupied the store like an Ariana Grande’s concert, or the employee let everyone enter, forgetting how many people she had already allowed in because she had forgotten her coffee, or her mask prevented oxygen to

How to Find Your Way Home During the Holidays

enter her brain. Possibly the although now lined with the drunken hazy nights of a thousand ecstatic bodies, no longer feel as empty as they once did the night of Christmas Eve.

Know that you are not alone. Many out there are familiar with the holiday blues. Above all comparison, remember to be kind to yourself. Know your limits and surround yourself with people that can respect them.

In the presence of a thousand contemptuous bodies, one may never feel any companionship. In the presence of one loving soul, one day Santa was used by Coca-Cola for their advertisements, and soon enough, it became popularized.

The bottom line is that the holidays are a great time, and gifts are an endearing way to celebrate, but we should try to resist the urge to splurge monstrous amounts of money on them. Try to be conscious of the gifts you are buying and enjoy the festivities!

former, not the latter.

As critical as I am, I am glad that everyone that day was content with the socialization. I hope that they became more grateful for their life as well as for those who joined their shopping trip that day, and fulfilled with the number of new treats they bought.

may find their way home. Be kind to yourself this holiday season, and remember that you can be your own safe place.