Best Buy Stands by Ad Wishing Muslims "Happy Eid al-Adha"
A Best Buy (BBY) ad that wished American Muslims a "Happy Eid al Adha" has come under fire from conservatives and Christians, who claim the company stopped saying "Merry Christmas" to its customers in 2006. On RightPundits.com:
... the liberal/PC culture has taken control of Best Buy where they shun the word Christmas yet they are quite willing to extend holiday wishes to Eid al-Adha.
Best Buy is standing by its ad (above). Like The Gap, Best Buy is wrongly accused of not using the word "Christmas" in its advertising. Brandweek:
Best Buy rep Lisa Svac Hawks, however, didn't agree with the claim, saying: "You will see more of Christmas in our holiday messaging. Christmas will be included in our insert and online. We have 'Merry Christmas' on our gift cards, too. In addition. we have developed the Christmas Morning simulator as an online interactive game.")
... "Best Buy's customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations. We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions," she said.You can read a bunch of anti-Best Buy vitriol on this Best Buy forum. Sample comment:
I don't consider myself much of a Christian, but I'm really sick of retailers that go out of their way to eliminate any reference to Christmas which is the origin of the holiday in the first place.Takeaway: Retailers can't win at Christmastime. If they ignore the holiday -- like The Gap was wrongly accused of doing -- they are subjected to boycotts by conservatives. If they recognize it, they irk those of us for whom Xmas is not a big deal. And if they mention anyone else's religion, they're also targeted for retribution by angry Christians.
And finally: Eid is fairly harmless: Muslims dress up and go to the mosque. Then they sacrifice their best farm animals and distribute meat and food around the community. No poor person is left without food during Eid. The ritual commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to god. That's pretty much it. Note that a lot of Christians deride Eid as a "goat-sacrificing festival," which is different to Xmas's turkey-sacrificing festival ... how?