AFA Catches Sam's Taking 'Christ' Out of Christmas Early
by Ed Thomas
August 25, 2006
(AgapePress) - - It appears the battle against what some call the politically correct title for Christmas has already begun. A pro-family group is highlighting ad on page 69 in the Sam's Club in-house magazine, Source, that promotes "holiday" cards, ribbons and gift bags, despite all the products obviously being designed for Christmas.
Randy Sharp, special projects director for the American Family Association, says it looks like Sam's Club parent company Wal-Mart is adhering to the same "holiday" policy in the 2006 season as it followed in 2005. "Last year," he says, "Wal-Mart refused to use the word Christmas in their advertising, and they were inundated by angry customers. And already this year they're showing their true colors by again refusing to acknowledge Christmas."
This past June, Sharp notes, AFA sent Wal-Mart a copy of a letter and more than 200,000 petition signatures that went to most major retailers in America, asking them not to ban the word Christmas from their advertising and promotions. He says there was no answer until the advertisement in Source came out.
"Last week the first Christmas ad came out, and that was for Sam's Club, owned by the Wal-Mart Stores Corporation," the AFA spokesman explains. "The ad is clearly meant to promote Christmas decorations and Christmas tree items," he says, "but Sam's Club refuses to refer to Christmas as Christmas. They simply use the generic term holiday."
Sharp suggests that potential shoppers, especially Christians who celebrate the holiday, should let Sam's Club know how they feel about this issue. He urges pro-faith, pro-family consumers to e-mail the company right away with their pleas that call the holiday by its true name.
In light of Source magazine's troubling approach to its Christmas sales promotions, Sharp hopes significant numbers of pro-family consumers will contact Sam's Club and its parent company Wal-Mart to tell them their customers want to keep "Christ" in Christmas. But in case the messages fall on deaf ears, he says he hopes pro-family consumers will be prepared to shop elsewhere this Christmas season if necessary.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
