Want to read a strange retail story? Read on. The following was found in the “Out There” section of Fox News. Then read my comments below…
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
No, your holiday binge drinking hasn’t gotten that out of control so early â€??? that Christmas tree really is upside down.Retailers are rolling out inverted trees as a hot new novelty item this holiday season.
Claiming the new model “Leaves more room on the floor for gifts,” Target offers three upside-down trees for $299.99-$499.99 on its Web site, according to USA Today.
The paper reports that ChristmasTreeForMe.com is selling bizarro trees in the 5-to-7½-foot range for $280-$504 and Hammacher Schlemmer has rolled out a $599.95 pre-lit model â€??? which it can’t keep in stock.
“We increased the amount we ordered from last year, but ended up selling all of them already,” Joe Jamrosz of Hammacher Schlemmer told USA Today.
“The Solstice Evergreen” author Sheryl Karas told the paper she isn’t sure what’s behind the new upside-down tree trend, a Central European tradition from the 12th century.
“There’s something sinister, almost bad, about it,” the Santa Cruz, Calif., author, told USA Today.
“It’s a pagan thing,” she said. “If they thought about it, they wouldn’t turn it upside down.”
But the retailers defend the fake flipside trees, hung from the ceiling or a wall, sometimes with a weighted base, as just so much holiday fun.
“Many of the people have been using them as their second tree. A novelty,” Jamrosz told USA Today. “They also find the bigger gifts don’t fit under a traditional tree.”
First, the entire idea of bringing trees indoors during the longest nights of the year is, indeed, a Pagan thing. We bring in living trees for the fey to live in where it is warm and dry. It is, like the idea of the Easter Egg, a Pagan tradition kidnapped by the Christians.
So, why would Pagans want to turn OUR OWN SYMBOLS upside-down?
You idiots! This is a marketing ploy, pure and simple. The idea is to make more room under the tree so those of you out there that equate “Love” with “dollars spent” will have to spend even more. Don’t for one bloody moment even dare to blame Pagans for this stupidity. For that matter, don’t blame the Christians either.
Blame the Wall Street marketing directors and the concept of, or ‘God’ to some, Greed.
Omar, out.
