Gap, Old Navy censor 'Christmas,'

[DisneyGerry]

December 5, 2006

Gap, Old Navy censor 'Christmas,' replace it with 'Holiday'

Gap, which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne and Piperlime, has become the latest politically correct retailer, intentionally censoring the use of "Christmas" in their in-store, online and printed advertising.

Instead of referring to the season as Christmas, Gap instead uses the word "holiday." As hard as we tried, AFA could not find a single instance in which Gap-owned stores use the term "Christmas." Not a single time!

When one Old Navy store manager was asked by AFA if the word Christmas was in his store, he answered, "We have a lot of Christmas gifts in our stores, but the word Christmas is not used here. Everything is 'holiday.'"

Gap wants you to do your Christmas shopping with them, but they don't want to mention the Reason for the season. Gap doesn't want to offend non-Christians by using Christmas. The fact that their censoring the use of Christmas might offend Christians seems to be of no importance.
Take Action

Send your message of disappointment to Gap, Inc. Click here to send your email.

Forward this e-mail to your friends and family.

Send Your Email Letter to Gap Chairman Don Fisher Now!

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

http://www.afa.net/aa120506.asp

 

[Jrsy Boy]

 

[poohandwendy]

As a christian, it does not bother me that they use the word 'holidays', as there are several holidays this season...

Nothing can take away from the spirit of Christmas if it is in your heart.

Btw, they are not censoring anything. It is not the Christmas season for all of their customers.

 

[sweetspicy]

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift?

Like a "holiday" gift?

 

[fivefordisney]

As a christian, it does not bother me that they use the word 'holidays', as there are several holidays this season...

Nothing can take away from the spirit of Christmas if it is in your heart.

Nicely said!

 

[sweetspicy]

As a christian, it does not bother me that they use the word 'holidays', as there are several holidays this season...

Nothing can take away from the spirit of Christmas if it is in your heart.

Btw, they are not censoring anything. It is not the Christmas season for all of their customers.

I totally agree.

 

[DisneyGerry]

Other than if the intention is to remove Christ out of Christmas. We have holidays we celebrate throughout the year, the main holiday of the year is Christmas, to celebrate Jesus' birth. These retailers are trying to capitalize off Christmas--are they not? Are they getting rich off any other holiday anytime of the year? Dont think so. Christmas is there bread and butter--yet many dont want to upset a very small percentage by keeping Christ in Christmas.

 

[poohandwendy]

Other than if the intention is to remove Christ out of Christmas. We have holidays we celebrate throughout the year, the main holiday of the year is Christmas, to celebrate Jesus' birth. These retailers are trying to capitalize off Christmas--are they not? Are they getting rich off any other holiday anytime of the year? Dont think so. Christmas is there bread and butter--yet many dont want to upset a very small percentage by keeping Christ in Christmas.

Nope they are trying to capitalize off ANYONE who is willing to pay for their goods. Apparently, they have realized that there is also a market of people who are celebrating other holidays like Channuka (for example)

They are not removing Christ out of anything.

 

[poohandwendy]

Btw, they were never, ever promoting Christ before when they called it a Christmas sale...they were making money. It's business. Let me know when they refuse sales to Christians. Then I will be up in arms.

 

[hornedfrog]

Gap wants you to do your Christmas shopping with them, but they don't want to mention the Reason for the season.

For me, this about summed up the level of ignorance that this article stems from. Many people are celebrating in the next few weeks and many, many of them are not observing Christmas.

But then I don't expect much from that organization...

 

[oxfordcircus]

Other than if the intention is to remove Christ out of Christmas. We have holidays we celebrate throughout the year, the main holiday of the year is Christmas, to celebrate Jesus' birth. These retailers are trying to capitalize off Christmas--are they not? Are they getting rich off any other holiday anytime of the year? Dont think so. Christmas is there bread and butter--yet many dont want to upset a very small percentage by keeping Christ in Christmas.

Let me preface this comment by saying that I am a Christian who "celebrates" Christmas. However, I place very little religious importance on the season. It's a nice, emotional time of year. I like the music, food, weather, time off, family, etc., but the history of this particular holiday is weird to me, and there's nothing more than tradition that links it to Christianity (i.e. no scriptural basis for celebrating Jesus' birth).

It is the bread and butter of our merchants' year. If they're making a bad decision by using the term 'holiday', the market will make them pay.

Wildmon should be viewed with skepticism.

 

[poohandwendy]

I am sort of LOL at the irony of this thread because the one thing I dislike about this time of year is the empasis on material things. So, to me...it's sort of nice that they don't call it Christmas sales. Because that is not what Christmas is all about, for me. I would rather the holiday be about more than what is under the tree, to be honest.

 

[Kimberly]

Their reasoning makes very little sense. I am not religious at all, and I'm not offended when people say Merry Christmas or Happy Hannakah to me. After all, the "holidays" are all about getting together with friends and family and having a good time. Just the point that they take to go out of their way to make sure that they don't offend people bothers me. Maybe people are getting too touchy nowadays.

 

[helenabear]

I am sort of LOL at the irony of this thread because the one thing I dislike about this time of year is the empasis on material things. So, to me...it's sort of nice that they don't call it Christmas sales. Because that is not what Christmas is all about, for me. I would rather the holiday be about more than what is under the tree, to be honest.

You just said exactly how I feel!!! I wish there wasn't an emphasis commercially for Christmas. Because if there is emphasis commercially then it becomes more about gifts than it does the "Reason for the Season"

Personally I have used Happy Holidays for a long time. Mostly because it does encompass Thanksgiving and New Years as well (along the lines of National Holidays). It also does more of a broad spectrum for the other holidays of Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Boxing Day (no I didn't add in Ramadan... I see that more as a time of reflection and fasting than a true holiday). Kind of nice to know I have it all covered

Yes we have other holidays throughout the year, but this is one time when I feel like there are multiple holidays right on top of each other.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I'm Catholic... It doesn't bother me one bit. As long as they have good selections and set nice and neat and the price is right and the store is clean and the service is good.. You can call it Labor Day/Easter/Mother's Day/St Patrick/April Fool's Day.. for all I care..

 

[Mrs.Toad]

As a christian, it does not bother me that they use the word 'holidays', as there are several holidays this season...

Nothing can take away from the spirit of Christmas if it is in your heart.

Btw, they are not censoring anything. It is not the Christmas season for all of their customers.

my thoughts exactly.

I had to LOL at a commercial I saw this morning for Wal-Mart, though. (remember a couple of weeks ago, they made a big announcement that they "weren't afraid to say Christmas", blah, blah, blah?)

Well, today this commercial said, I kid you not, "Holiday is coming". Not "the holidays are coming", which would be a true and correct statement and one that wouldn't bother most people I know. Now, that's taking it too far, IMO. Even worse than the "holiday tree". Especially for a company that made the announcement they did.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

AFA - what a joke!!!!

PoohandWendy: well said!!!

I have weighed in on my feelings on "Happy Holidays": before..not gonna go into again - except to sum it up in one word: inclusion....

it is not the only holiday....you may feel it is the "main" holiday" - so what - there are people who celebrate/believe differently than you do.....retailers have a right to recognize that and to be considerate to ALL their customers!

I did contact them - to let them know we support them - and to tell them not to give into the tactics of a group like AFA!!!!!!

 

[tar heel]

I agree with poohandwendy 100% -- making Christmas less commerical is a good thing, not a bad thing. I think tying sales to Christmas diminishes rather than enhances the real reason for the holiday.

I wish the people and organizations who get upset about "Happy Holidays" would consider putting their time and energy toward something significant. It's not like the stores using "Merry Christmas" are doing anything other than trying to increase their profits.

 

[eclectics]

I am sort of LOL at the irony of this thread because the one thing I dislike about this time of year is the empasis on material things. So, to me...it's sort of nice that they don't call it Christmas sales. Because that is not what Christmas is all about, for me. I would rather the holiday be about more than what is under the tree, to be honest.

Christmas has become all about commercialism and marketing. Has been for a long time but only recently has it become really obnoxious, imho. Merchants start gearing up for this in October now. I don't care what they call it, as I, for one, refuse to take part in all the frenzy. I buy my few small gifts leisurely. I enjoy the neighborhood lights. I send out my cards (trimmed down just to relatives and close friends). I watch my Christmastime videos. I refused some time ago to be caught up in what Madison Ave. wants me to do. Even Charlie Brown figured it out in 1965. Shame it's gotten worse, not better.

 

[Disneyland1084]