There's always a bit of controversy during the holiday season about the political correctness of Christmas.
Home shopping is not immune to this.
There's been an ongoing debate about whether or not the hosts are encouraged to say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas."
Well according to an article in the Tennessean about former QVC host, Steve Bryant, they certainly are:
His [song] "I Still Say Merry Christmas" was inspired "by the many years I spent on QVC and had to say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry Christmas' on-air," he said.
Although there were Christmas trees and decorations everywhere at QVC, the phrase was verboten on the air, Bryant said.
"I slipped the occasional 'merry Christmas' in, and I heard about it," he said.
Also, be sure to check out his website here and the Christmas song here. He's got a great post on the home page about the current and many woes of home shopping channels. Here's a snippet:
At QVC, we used to debut new and exciting products all the time. Today, it seems that most televised shopping channels rely on a core of products they sell all the time. Recently, one of them sold a cookware set for over 3 hours straight. Now there’s compelling television. They sold a bunch of them, but how many viewers did they turn off in the process. How many of those disgruntled viewers/customers will be back soon?
I just love three hours of Green Pans, don't you? Ugh!
Anyway, this all seems so strange to me since home shopping channels, along with other retailers, make most of their money in the forth quarter because of Christmas sales. Besides, who exactly is offended by Christmas? I'm not offended when my grandma's Jewish boyfriend celebrates Hanukkah. Nor was I offended when a co-worker fasted during Ramadan. And, for the record, my friend's agnostic husband doesn't bug me either. I just don't get it.
Isn't it almost time for Christmas in July?
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If I, a self-described nontheist, don't mind "Merry Christmas" wishes, nobody should mind! I'm with Steve.
ReplyDeleteI love Steve! I miss his sense of humor. Glad that he is doing well. Thanks for the links, Bea!
ReplyDeleteHi---am having fun catching up with peoples lives from the shopping channels. I have one observation to make about Steve Bryant, he was always making a snide remark. I kid you not, when Carol Channing was on with her jewelery he had a sarcastic remark, having somethiing to do with his mother---check the tapes for the show. Someone else on the set saved his butt. He was dissy about always walking Kathy's dog---anyway, I always felt he had to try to bring someone down to feel better about himself. It made me feel uncomfortable as a viewer
ReplyDeleteSorry to disagree. Steve and Carol Channing remained friends after her QVC days. She still speaks highly of him. I live in Modesto, not too far from her. Sounds like you need to put someone down to feel better about yourself.
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