Belk's, a Department Store chain that has a few locations here in Tennessee, has a new Christmas commercials with some creepy, almost incestuous overtones going on. The whole commercial is done to the song "Santa Baby" and features a 5 year old "Diva in Training" looking like the perfect WASP child with hints of Jon Bennet Ramsey skipping down the stairs and wherever she passes festive holiday decorations appear (most likely bought a Belk's). Her perfect WASP parents are in the kitchen beaming at their little baby Beauty Queen and a perfect WASP boy of about 7-8 is lounging on the floor near the Family's Christmas tree. From the commercial you get the impression that the little boy is her brother, yet when Ms. Diva skips into the living room she gives the brother a wink and a nod which prompts him to go into the other room and bring her a gift of a stuffed animal hidden behind his back. He approaches her, shuffling his feet like a nervous suitor. She responds with a shy smile while the Parents seem to encourage this behavior from the kitchen. I turned to my Wife and said "kind of creepy commercial there huh?" She agreed, especially with the part about the brother acting like a suitor to his sister. Can I ask, who the Hell greenlights these things? Seriously, did they hire the only ad agency run by Pedophiles on Madison Ave or something? It was very surrealistic and creepy. It's also funny to see the utter desperation of the retail establishments this time of year. The Christmas season has started already for those not paying attention. Hell it started shortly before Halloween. Nintendo is sure marketing the Hell out of the Wii this Christmas I noticed. Half the commercials on TV last night were for the Wii and Wii related games and peripherals. I've also notice that yet again WalMart is on a rampage to convince America that we can save sooo much money by shopping at their stores. One of their latest commercials claims that Grandpa can afford a ticket to fly out and see the family during the Holidays because he shopped at WalMart. Really? Not with the prices the airlines charge, and the fact that the Grandpa in the commercial has a suitcase that needs checking. They claim they have "unbeatable" prices on Wii and Wii games. No you don't. Nintendo Wii's have a MSRP of 199.99. That's anywhere you buy one.....anywhere that's legitimate of course. There's nothing "unbeatable" about that really. Target charges that price, Best Buy does, etc. You're not beating anyone when the manufacturer suggests a price....which is business legalese for "you will charge this much for our product in your store or we will sue you....". It's not price fixing, but it is close. Actually Game Stop will sell you one for 149.99 when you sell them back two "qualifying" used games. Not sure what games qualify but I'm sure it's not that crappy "Block Party" game we have for the Wii. Must remember to always check Amazon's user reviews before purchasing another game. Anyway, here's to a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all. Just remember, shop smart, and don't go into debt.
3 comments:
I saw this commercial yesterday and immediately did a Google search for it, and ran across this blog post plus a couple of others. I found the commercial inappropriate at BEST. I will be writing headquarters as well as blogging about it on my own, and trying to get people as outraged over this as I am. Just wanted to thank you for posting this.
Glad my Wife and I aren't the only ones that noticed the underlying creepiness of the ad. Penny's has a similar one, but I get the jist it's a party with several families and the little boy and little girl have grown up together. This one for Belk though, just leaves with at WTF? moment.
I agree with you as well Steve T. It was like you said, the parents encouraged that crap and nothing about that commercial says Christmas.
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