A BELATED Happy Christmas from The Tab

It's never too early to start celebrating!

It seems we’re a bit late with our Season’s Greetings this year.

Sainsbury’s have been promoting mince pies since before Halloween. Even before Guy Fawkes Night, Costa in Portswood was blasting out the Christmas tunes and servings drinks in their festive flasks. Remembrance Sunday hasn’t even passed us yet, but still the Christmas lights in London’s Oxford Street have been switched on (sponsored by Marmite – gotta love that) officially marking the start of the festive season.

The international students may be getting confused as to why we seem to be celebrating Christmas so early – surely we have at least a month to go before we have to start thinking about the holidays. Heck, we all probably have a few essays and assignments to get done before then too. So why, every year, do we start ‘getting ready’ for Christmas earlier and earlier.

Wikipedia’s facts will need to be checked, as they state the elusive Oxford Street lights go on ‘In mid- to late-November’. Last year they went on even before Bonfire Night – on the 1^st of November, but controversies around the timing lead to the later date this year – the 6^th.

Nordstrom Taking a Stand

Whilst the festive cheer is almost always appreciated – it does seem out of place this early on. At Nordstrom, an American Department store, they stated that they wouldn’t start promoting Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Nordstrom are taking a stand against the over-promotion and overlap of festive endorsements. Southampton City Centre isn’t starting its Christmas Market until the 15^th of this month, which seems slightly more reasonable.

It’s upsetting to think though, that with the TV ads and billboards already ramming Christmas down our throats, by the time it gets to December 25^th, Christmas will be old news. We may be festived-out, and over the cheer. We’ll be bored of it. Most of us would have already started looking forward to our New Year’s Eve parties. Of course, it’s never too early to start planning that!