{"id":58469,"date":"2017-12-01T12:15:40","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T17:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/lets-face-it-christmas-has-been-rebranded\/"},"modified":"2017-12-01T12:15:40","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T17:15:40","slug":"lets-face-it-christmas-has-been-rebranded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/lets-face-it-christmas-has-been-rebranded\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded<\/b><\/p>\n

A crisp winter\u2019s evening. The still air is broken by the sound of a church bell ringing. Startled, yet filled with excitement, a small child scrambles to the window. They peer through the pane, leaving a ring of condensation against the frosty glass. Is it? Could it be? A glimpse, no more, of something in the distance \u2013 far away across the snow-covered vista. It\u2019s magical. It\u2019s here. It\u2019s really here! <\/strong>The child rushes to find a warm coat as, carried on the wind, soft voices are heard:<\/p>\n

\u201cHolidays are coming, holidays are coming…\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This time of year has always been filled with myths and legends, heart-warming stories to ease us through the coldest of winters. Of late, since 1995 in fact, a new story has joined the canon. The myth of a bright red articulated truck, entering a small snow-dusted town, acting as herald to a non-denominational \u2018holiday season\u2019. Crowds gather to share comradeship, love and a famous soft drink.<\/p>\n

Every year, at this time, I find myself admitting \u2013 to close friends and family \u2013 that this tale of the garishly lit vehicle traversing through the snow to bring tidings of (deliberately vague) holidays and fizzy drinks moves me. Genuinely. I don\u2019t feel \u2018Christmassy\u2019 until I\u2019ve seen it. This isn\u2019t sarcasm, I\u2019m being totally candid. This revelation usually leads to cries of derision, that, like some modern day overly saccharine Scrooge, I\u2019m \u2018missing the true spirit of Christmas\u2019.<\/p>\n

Similarly, at this time, naysayers flock to social media to complain about the pop standard given the acoustic treatment for John Lewis\u2019 latest mini movie. These pint-sized epics, depicting sage morals against a backdrop of consumerism, are too frequently dismissed as missing the point.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t disagree more strongly.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to face it, Christmas has been rebranded. We need to get over it and move on. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What do I mean by this?<\/p>\n

Well, if Christmas didn\u2019t exist, we\u2019d need to invent it. It\u2019s no coincidence that the feast lies at the darkest part of the year, literally \u2018in the bleak mid-winter\u2019. A time when we need something to look forward to, a pick-me-up<\/em>. Pre-Christian society understood this, with their \u2018Yuletide\u2019 winter solstice celebrations, which were neatly \u2018re skinned\u2019 (using a modern parlance) by early Christianity with the familiar Bethlehem-based narrative. The story changed, but the heart of the feast remained the same \u2013 communities coming together to celebrate, during the bleakest of seasons.<\/p>\n

The mid-winter oasis of the \u2018festive season\u2019 was, for generations, the exclusive territory of religion. But things change, meaning evolves and time moves on. We know, of course, that the \u2018holidays\u2019 so movingly crooned of in the Cola commercial are a contraction of the Christian \u2018holy days\u2019. Yet the word no longer has an ecclesiastical connotation. The same might be said of \u2018Christmas\u2019 itself \u2013 an abbreviation of \u2018Christ\u2019s Mass\u2019, which (I feel) wouldn\u2019t be the primary definition for most. Like \u2018holiday\u2019, the word has new common meaning: a festive period of goodwill and joviality. There are new myths and traditions too, with John Lewis and Coca Cola at the heart of these, here in this country.<\/p>\n

I wish those who choose to celebrate the religious during this festive time well. They do not, however, have a monopoly on \u2018the true meaning of Christmas\u2019. The meaning of anything in the public domain is constantly evolving, to reflect the times. These new connotations and understandings around the feast are, in my view, totally valid and \u2018true\u2019. In the 21st century shopping malls have replaced churches as places of pilgrimage, while brands provide a tribal sense of belonging that used to be the preserve of organised religion.<\/p>\n

In truth, I don\u2019t think that, fundamentally, much has changed. Like with all rebrands, the core elements of the offering stay the same, they\u2019re just presented differently. A feast that previously was about family, friendship and celebration against a background of religion, now plays out against a background of consumerism. Both versions help maintain our society\u2019s fabric, yet the rebrand is more relevant for today\u2019s secular life.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the view I\u2019m outlining will prove a step too far for some, seeing it as heretical and bold. Perhaps it is. That said, such frustrations about how the mid-winter feast was presented were probably felt by the pre-Christians when their Yuletide was rebranded all those years ago.<\/p>\n

I, for one, am excited about Christmas \u2013 just like the child with their nose against the glass as the red lorry trundles through the snow. For me, it represents all the best parts of life, a time when people make the effort to be that bit nicer to each other \u2013 which can only be a good thing.<\/p>\n

The stories we tell each other around this festival are down to us, whether they be tales of friendly monsters under our beds, red nosed reindeer having their day in the sun or overfilled inns improvising accommodation. All have their place as part of the \u2018true\u2019 meaning of this wonderful midwinter shindig.<\/p>\n

Happy Holidays<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris McGuire<\/p>\n

Read Chris\u2019 \u2018Out Of Depth Dad\u2019 blog here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> & Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

\nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/lets-face-it-christmas-has-been-rebranded_uk_5a1eada9e4b0e9a1b9c7b54a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded A crisp winter\u2019s evening. The still air is broken by the sound of a church bell ringing. Startled, yet filled with excitement, a small child scrambles to the window. They peer through the pane, leaving a ring of condensation against the frosty glass. Is it? Could it be? … Continue reading Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLet\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/lets-face-it-christmas-has-been-rebranded\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let\u2019s Face It, Christmas Has Been Rebranded A crisp winter\u2019s evening. 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