Indeed. The 25th was set to coincide and co-opt existing winter solstice celebrations. Which is what Christmas is: a set of traditions co-opted of mostly non-christian origin.
Despite its name, quite an inclusive holiday.
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Apple Launches New Holiday-Themed 'Misunderstood' iPhone 5s Commercial
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Indeed. The 25th was set to coincide and co-opt existing winter solstice celebrations. Which is what Christmas is: a set of traditions co-opted of mostly non-christian origin.
Despite its name, quite an inclusive holiday.
Dec 25 for most Western churches (Catholic/Protestant) and Jan 6 (I think) for Orthodox churches
And all Christians don't celebrate the same way like Americans. In fact, there are some churches (past and present) that discourage the whole gift-giving/celebration thing
ETA: I even know Evangelical Christians who like to talk about all those bad and evil heretic and pagan origins of all those Christmas traditions I like to celebrate Christmas with. So please stop .... I know all about the winter solstice co-opting stuff... If I am not getting from it one side.... I am getting it from the other .....
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You took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn't have said it better. Really P.O'd me a few years back when the company I worked for couldn't put up a Christmas tree because of "those other people" that would get offended. Who gives a F about those other people? If they don't like Christmas they need to ignore it. Why the rest of the world feels the need to cater to them is so far beneath me. I certainly won't modify my world of Christmas because of those other people.
I like it. I love Apple's commercials lately. It shows how their products are truly enriching peoples lives. While all their competitors (Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft, etc) commercials have been about bashing Apple's products instead of focusing on their own. I'm glad Apple is above those childish games
"Get a Mac" ring a bell...
To be absolutely clear, what you said was "Christmas is a religious festival not an excuse for a shopping spree." You went beyond criticizing an advertisement to making a broader edict regarding religion and how people should worship a specific day on the calendar.
On the contrary: I made a suggestion that you follow your beliefs and allow others to follow theirs, and then backed that up with a passage from the very book you profess to follow.
What followed was a direct personal attack and condemnation that you made against me, based on assumptions regarding my character, that were conjured out of thin air. ("Please don't confuse a religious festival with your blatant worship of consumerism.")
But that's okay. I'm more than willing to bless those who curse me, and to turn the other cheek.
I'm really at a loss as to why the ad enrages you so. I and many others saw it as merely a demonstration of how a simple device can allow people to express themselves uniquely, one of many possible outcomes. The fact that there's a Christmas theme to it is incidental with the current time period.
Apple is not a religious organization. They sell things, and to do so they must inform people that they are, in fact, selling certain things. And they do this throughout the year. As such, their advertising agency is tasked with sending out messages appropriate to what's happening currently.
Should we ban all forms of advertising from the last week of November through New Years Day, so that one individual's opinion regarding the sanctity of a day is satisfied? Worse yet, should we ban the sale of consumer electronics and nonessential items for this period?
Also, you DO know that if you don't like a commercial, you can change the channel on your TV, or not play the Youtube video... right? One really doesn't need to work themselves into hysterics over a commercial.
Now now, cursing isn't very Christian, is it?
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I thought this was about a commercial, with a kid, with a iPhone, creating a mini movie, for his family?
Where did all this other stuff come from? I have strong opinions of some of the off topic things being talked about but I do that where it's relevant to the subject at hand.
Where did all this other stuff come from? I have strong opinions of some of the off topic things being talked about but I do that where it's relevant to the subject at hand.
"Get a Mac" ring a bell...
Notice how I said "I love apples commercials LATELY". Those ads went from 2006 to 2009. It's currently 2013.
"Get a Mac" ring a bell...
You mean the ads they haven't run since 2009? Can you name an ad since then that has directly taken a swipe against a competitor?
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Front and center on http://www.apple.com now.
do people in commercials like these ever tweet like "that was me!" Lol it's like people in popular commercials don't exist.
their Twitter pages or Instagrams never pop up...
their Twitter pages or Instagrams never pop up...
Re above comments I'm not going to make any more statements re religion in the thread as I agree that this is not the right place for such a discussion.
Talking purely about the advert in question I still think it's probably one of the worst ads Apple has ever made. Sentimental bollocks. It's almost as bad as the one with people on a tube train and some guy spouting off another load of bollocks about how it makes you feel.
In contrast the current ad where the iPad Air is hidden behind a pencil and finally revealed at the end is one of the better Apple ads I've seen.
Talking purely about the advert in question I still think it's probably one of the worst ads Apple has ever made. Sentimental bollocks. It's almost as bad as the one with people on a tube train and some guy spouting off another load of bollocks about how it makes you feel.
In contrast the current ad where the iPad Air is hidden behind a pencil and finally revealed at the end is one of the better Apple ads I've seen.
Um, yes. I call those holidays (and I'm Jewish). You do know that the origin of that word means "Holy Day" don't you? ORIGIN: Old English hāligdæg [holy day.] So holiday doesn't *just* mean travel or day off. It can and does mean celebration or observation of a particular day for a particular reason. "Holy" or religious ones included. But this ad isn't about a religious celebration, is it? Both it and the song are celebrations of family (read the lyrics).
Outside of the word "Christmas," "Have Yourself..." is a very "secular" song about being with friends and family. Celebrating them. Which, by the way, matches up to the video perfectly (and matches up to the birth of Jesus if you want to go religious—isn't that a celebration of a new family?).
Again, I'm not sure why "happy holidays" should be seen as an insult rather than a sincere wish to all of us that our celebrations, whatever those may be, should be happy. I, personally, might not call "Yom Kippur" a holiday in terms of being a day of travel and fun, but if someone came up and wished me "Happy holiday" for Yom Kippur, I wouldn't feel that I'd been disrespected. Nor would I spend my whole Yom Kippur angry that people were calling it a "holiday." I'd be very touched, in fact, that someone had wished me that. A happy "holy day."
Of course, if the U.S. congress were to name Yom Kippur a "national holiday" which people could use to go on trips and such...then I might start to think of it as "going on holiday." Christmas is a "holiday" in the U.S.—meaning a day when many businesses are closed and people of many different faiths get a "holiday." That's certainly why the family in that ad can get together. They're on "holiday" (off work) as well as celebrating a particular "holy day."
So why not "Happy holidays"? And why not take that well-wish in whichever way makes you feel good rather than angry? Either a wish for a happy day off—or a happy "holy day."
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Actually, I'm with you on this. My family doesn't look anything like that. We are a "white" family but members are married to hispanics and African Americans, etc. I live in a neighborhood of mixed marriages and when the church across the street has it's Christmas Eve celebration, the families that go in don't look like this family.
It's why I loved the 5C ads. They showed such a wonderful variety of people. That ad, I understand, was more global, and this ad is very American. But America has become much more integrated and varied. And it would be nice to see families like that in ads like this.
If the ad is trying to show that however technologically we've advanced, we can still be old fashionedan old fashioned family, with old fashioned traditionsand the new tech adds to that rather than taking away from that--then it can also understand that however much families in America have changed, they, too, can still be "old fashioned." i.e. they don't have to be white to celebrate an "old fashioned" Christmas in the snow, with sledding and snow angels, etc.
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Looked Yuletide themed to me. I know many Pagans and this video could have been taken in their homes. Hanging ornaments from trees is a very pagan.
You don't see any mangers in the commercials do you?
If the song didn't say "Christmas" it could have been a Yule celebration. Or Saturnalia. I know pagans that celebrate that, too.
Holiday themed.
And you know what, I am too much of an adult to drop down to your level (the gutter) and call people names because I don't agree with you......
Actually, thinking about it, the two are not comparable. Yom Kippur doesn't happen at the same time as other holidays (outside of Labor Day?), nor does Ramadan, usually (August this year).
But a lot of "Holy Days" happen over December. And how am I to know (how is Apple to know) which you'll be celebrating? If I see you face to face, I may notice the cross you're wearing and if I do, I'd probably wish you a "Merry Christmas." Just as I'd wish a person wearing yarmulke "Happy Hanukkah." But if you're not wearing anything evident, how do I know you're not a Pagan and I should wish you "Happy Yule" or "Happy Solstice," or perhaps you're Greek Orthodox and I should say "Happy Epiphany." Are you just celebrating Xmas day, or Our Lady of Guadalupe day as well as Felice Navidad? All 12 days of Christmas? If you're British there's Boxing day. On the other hand, if you're a Jehovah's Witness then I shouldn't wish you anything. And let's not forget Kwanzaa.
For all I know, all you might be celebrating is getting December 25th and January 1st off work?
So, there really is no reason for me to wish total strangers "Merry Christmas" as if it's the only holiday (holy day) they might be celebrating in December. But once, again, the primary question is, why so angry over it? It certainly isn't in the spirit of Christmas to spend it feeling wrathful against those who aren't trying to insult or disrespect you, but only wish you welland make us all part of this time of year, all together in celebrating family and friends.
It certainly gives a bad spin to the words "Merry Christmas" if some loudly and angrily insist on it being said and are hurtful to those who don't say it (apparently some Salvation Army worker got punched for saying "Happy Holidays."). Do we really want "Merry Christmas" identified with meanness?
Cat Power did the music for this ad.
She is a talentless musician that nobody in the industry will work with.
She is a talentless musician that nobody in the industry will work with.
It is very offensive to imply this "white" family is racist. Referring to cross buring and swastikas is ignorant and for someone who wants to see more diversity, you think you would be less offensive. This was, for the most part, a real family, not a bunch of actors, and they are far from racist. They are a very accepting group of people and they don't need to fake the love you see.