The Christmas Brand & Generic Secular Winter Holiday Design Fails (aka – tacky Christmas garb)

Summary

The holidays are a time for food, family, ugly Christmas sweaters, tacky Christmas decorations and presents from if not Santa, then who?

The Brand of Christmas has evolved. New pressures of turning this beloved holiday into a Generic Secular Winter Holiday have given the gents lots to rant about as well as delivering their top Christmas design fails for the season.

Episode Transcript


 00:00:00

Shawn
Cheers. We'll start with this. Here we go to a great week. Christmas Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. I don't, I don't know what to wish you. 


 00:00:13

Massimo
It is a secular wintertime holiday. Yeah. 


 00:00:17

Shawn
Man. Happy secular winter. Winter festival. 


 00:00:22

Massimo
Holiday. Yes. Happy second or winter. Doesn't really do it. Doesn't have a nice dude. What were you saying about Santa And Coca-Cola, 


 00:00:32

Shawn
From what I understand, he was, he wore the red suit and then, the whole nine yards back in the old days, right? 


 00:00:40

Massimo
Yeah. Since like the early 19th century, I guess, or whatever. Yup. Yup. 


 00:00:44

Shawn
But, I guess Coca-Cola kind of refined Coca Cola, the brand, they get, what did they, I think they got an artist to kind of render his likeness and give him that old timey kind of thing. 


 00:00:55

Massimo
Kind of actually I created the Santa that we know and created. 


 00:00:59

Shawn
The sand that we all know and love. Right right. 


 00:01:01

Massimo
We'll see that. That's what people don't understand. See. Cause I mean, don't get me wrong. There were, there was some intention at some point with Christmas, and what it stood for. But Christmas very much, it's a brand. Yes. Right. It's a brand like big time. What makes up a brand shot? What makes up a brand to you? You're the, 


 00:01:20

Shawn
You get, they give the season of giving that kind of stuff. Yeah. 


 00:01:25

Massimo
That's what a brand is. Right. It's like that vibe that you get right now, weather, and that's okay. That that might be over simplifying it. The reality is, it is people's perception of a company of an event of an, a holiday really. That's what makes up a brand. Right. Whether you are someone like Nike and Adidas who are spending, hundreds of millions of dollars, pushing that out on people, or you are something that just happened naturally like this, right. It's a brand, right. And Christmas just like don't fool yourself. It's a brand. The sad part is no matter how much people sit there and cry and scream, and they're like, I'm offended by the term, Christmas I'm offended. The sad part is when people think of Christmas, right? Number one, they think of all the good stuff. Christmas is right. First and foremost, then they start thinking images like Santa's reindeers. 


 00:02:21

Massimo
They start thinking about the family, get togethers. They start thinking, it's a season of giving and sharing and warmth is sadly, only probably. I hate to say this, but I think the people like the whole Christian movement and the whole religious aspect of Christmas is probably an afterthought to most. If like, honestly, I don't think people even think about that first, which there always, don't forget the real meaning of Christmas. Yes. I bet you to some, they don't even know what that is. They don't even sit there and think, yeah. 


 00:02:54

Speaker 0
Oh, it was a, the birth of itty bitty baby Jesus. Right. Like way out in the day. People aren't thinking. 


 00:03:00

Massimo
That. So yes. The brand has changed from a religious holiday, in my opinion, to, this still very positive, very awesome thing. Yeah. People are still getting offended by the term they're hanging on to that term, which, I think it kind of ruins it for everybody. It definitely ruins it for the people who originally had the religious meaning of Christmas. Right. Right. They're also ruining it for everybody else. They're ruining it for the kids, who like, what are they going to do if they're not going to go sit on Santa's lap? What are they, at Christmas time, what are they gonna do? They're gonna be sitting on some old dude wearing a red outfit, lack something feels wrong. Do you know what I mean? Like. 


 00:03:44

Shawn
Much. So it's a good point. I like what you say. Cause I was raised secular. I was never raised cause you're, I mean, raised Christian or anything like that, but I understood the meaning behind it. I think because of the brand does a very good job of explaining its origin. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Which is why I think to your point is why people are so offended by it because of the religious overtones. Yeah. But that's how it started. 


 00:04:11

Massimo
Well, it's how it started, but it's not what it means today. Okay. The timing. Okay. Let's let's just be honest here. The timing of Christmas had nothing to do with December 25th. It landed on it. I mean, growing up in that faith, I mean, it was the put Christmas on that time of year to make it coincide with a big pagan holiday. Right right. It was a giant pagan hall and they said, Hey, what, we're going to celebrate and jump on their trend. Okay. What happened? And maybe the pagans are pissed off and bitching, like we are about this now. It wasn't the brand of the pagan religion. Right. In fact, I think that's where the tree may have come from actually pegging the Halloweens is a pagan tradition apparently. So apparently so. Right. Nobody's complaining about that one here. The funny thing. Yeah. I guess. 


 00:04:57

Massimo
Yeah. I guess it's probably the same people. 


 00:05:00

Shawn
To those people. 


 00:05:02

Massimo
Again, I'm not saying that Christmas doesn't mean, it doesn't have a religious intent for some, for a lot in fact, right? Yes. Again, the brand of Christmas I think has moved away from the religious side to this. I mean like, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, again, I was born and raised Roman Catholic, but the reality is growing up. I mean a Christmas tree had nothing to do with the religious side of it. Santa had absolutely nothing to do with the religious side, even giving gifts. Yeah. Maybe it's a stretch if they really want to go, what thing? Those three wise men brought gifts, but that's a little different. I mean, three wise men are bringing the gifts to my house and growing up, it's Santa, who's bringing me the gifts. Right. None of these are religious, which is where it's like it has kind of grown out of the whole religious side and in turned into a brand of its own. 


 00:05:55

Massimo
People think that they're being offended by this, what was a religious holiday, but it has it's turned sadly far away from that. I mean, there's still good intentions behind the holiday season. Yes. Whether or not you are, of religious belief or secular, regardless of what, it's the good intentions. It's a season of warmth, a season of giving. Yes. Saying Merry Christmas to somebody isn't saying, bow down to Jesus in this it's not right. It's really not. It's saying, Hey, it's part of the times it's part of the season and now everything is now happy holidays. Well what fucking holiday are we celebrating? Are we celebrating Valentine's day St. Valentine's day. 


 00:06:43

Shawn
Next one, are we right? It's. 


 00:06:45

Massimo
On the chopping block. Are we celebrating St. Patrick's day? That's another one get rid of that holiday Kwanzaa. I mean, Hey, if I walked into a store and I saw something said, Hey, happy Kwanzaa. Yeah. I'd be like, hell yeah, happy, Quanta. Anybody I know who believes I, and if Kwanza had this whole other side to it, where there was, some awesome dude flying around and giving me stuff and making me feel jolly and warm rapes right behind, I wouldn't be right. Would never begrudge anybody that no. Right. Absolutely not. Right. Like again, it's well intentioned. I think that people really do a bad job at, like kind of over-analyzing shit. Yeah. And ruining what is a well-intentioned. Yes. If a little kid comes up to you and gives you a flower and says, here you go, what are you going to do? Slap it from the kid and say, get that away from me. 


 00:07:39

Massimo
I'm offended. I'm offended because I'm allergic to it. You little punk, get the hell out of here. It's a well-intentioned gesture. Right. Ads, we see this with ads, like that. Remember I told you about that Apple ad a long time ago, the COVID one that just showed all these work at home. People trying to figure out how to work together and work and all the struggles they had. I mean, okay. We don't use Apple products to do our work at working from home. We don't. Right. The idea of the ad was gonna. 


 00:08:07

Shawn
Cool. It was humorous. It was like, 


 00:08:11

Massimo
Cause it's like, yeah, I know what it's like when you're trying to have a meeting, a zoom meeting and you've got kids running around and you're trying to shush them up while trying to keep us, but people, they just ranted about this and it's just like, dude, just take it for what it is, have fun with this, enjoy the well-intentioned part of it. You don't have to go buy the damn product if you're so clever and smart about this. 


 00:08:33

Shawn
Yeah. See and that's the kind of thing that really cheeses me off nowadays because there's this whole culture around this. Like if you don't like a station or a channel or a Christmas song, like some Christmas songs are offensive nowadays currently. And, and if you take it out of that context, yes. It's sounds pretty bad. But like, it's just like, it. 


 00:08:59

Massimo
Don't listen to it. ? Right Like, instead of being one of these people who just. 


 00:09:03

Shawn
Cry baby, about everything, somebody says, Merry Christmas, me, do I get offended and Tweed about it, right? 


 00:09:10

Massimo
Yeah. If somebody was in front of you and you're like, Hey, Merry Christmas. Yeah. Chances are, they were not going to look at you and be like, Oh, I don't celebrate I'm offended. Chances are they won't, they will maybe say happy holidays. Right. They might not wish you Merry Christmas back, but they might wish you a good. 


 00:09:27

Shawn
Gesture. When they get to their car, they're on Twitter. They're saying some JAG just wished merry Christmas, dare that, hear that asshole. I should have said this. I should have said. 


 00:09:40

Massimo
That their friends, can you believe. 


 00:09:42

Shawn
That? Oh, the nerve scare. Jeez good intentions. 


 00:09:49

Massimo
You don't have to agree with it. If it's well intentioned, like get off your high entitled horse, like seriously, like appreciate what things are and go on with your own life and do things. If something's, if you're that easily offended. Wow dude, you've got so many other things to worry about the whole life of misery ahead of you. 


 00:10:11

Shawn
Yes. It's such a nice time of year. You know, it's all about family. 


 00:10:15

Massimo
I have yet to hear Merry Christmas from somebody. 


 00:10:19

Shawn
I know. If you, I, I'm still an old school TV watcher and it's all happy holidays. Right. 


 00:10:25

Massimo
All across the board, again, holiday happy, generic secular winners. 


 00:10:31

Shawn
Sure. Holiday everybody happy. Saturnalia yeah. Fruit for the Romans over there. 


 00:10:40

Massimo
Yeah. Like honestly, like saying, and again, like I said, the brand has evolved sadly for the Christians. The brand has evolved. Now if people think Christmas, they don't think, a, a religious holiday first. They don't, they think of Santa, they think of Prince. They they think of, family, like it's that one holiday that really pushes family. Right. And togetherness. Like you don't see the, I mean, I don't know what other holidays push that. Okay. St. Patrick's day is drunkenness. Easter is a bunny, dumping eggs everywhere. Valentine's is the couple that, like, this is the holiday that it's like, what cherish your family, ? And just like, Hey, just like the pagan holiday that it jumped on, the brand of this has changed. We're not saying that the religious part of this is going to disappear because to those who believe in that religion, you will always be there. 


 00:11:30

Massimo
To everybody else in the world by basically turning a wing Christmas. Yep. And, and saying, no, it's a, happy generic winter holiday. Okay. You're saying goodbye to Santa. You're saying goodbye to presence. You're saying goodbye to a tree. ? What So what's left like really? What holiday are we going to be celebrating this time of year? Right. Hey, if you want, if you celebrate CU, Quanta. Great. Yeah. Hanukkah. Great. 


 00:11:55

Speaker 0
Cool. That's that's fine. And that's cool. 


 00:11:57

Massimo
If, if I go to my way to wish my Jewish friends happy Hanukkah. 


 00:12:00

Speaker 0
Yes. Good. Yeah. It. 


 00:12:02

Massimo
It's well, intentioned give people a break. Really give people a break. Yeah. So, with the brand of Christmas or, secular winter comes a lot of ridiculous design fails, Christmas design fails. All right. Ooh. I love it. First and foremost, my opinion, Christmas design field, number one. Yep. Plastic outdoor ornaments. Okay. Nobody needs to see giant plastic faded, candy Kings or deers or the worst. 


 00:12:41

Speaker 0
The plastic nativity scene with the little feet in plastic. Baby manger. Plastic is just wrong. That is terrible. To try to do. 


 00:12:55

Massimo
Fantastic. Outdoor ornamental design failed. Number one. Yes. Big time. I always think of, 


 00:13:02

Speaker 0
Chevy chase punches. The sand is plastic. Santa's Christmas. He's stomping on him. Kick it all day. 


 00:13:16

Massimo
Yes. The plastic ornament guy. It's gotta go. It's gotta go. All right. Christmas designed failed. Number two. Yes. Tin salt. Tinsel. God is like a nightmare that just keeps coming back the worst. Okay. You use it on your tree. It's on your tree forever. Yes. You pack up Christmas. You're finding tinsel four years after. 


 00:13:43

Speaker 0
Okay. You're finding it everywhere. You're finding it in your cupboard. You're finding it that. Okay. I don't even know what it's supposed to represent because it's not real icicles. Don't look like that. Right right. I have no idea. You're right in. It's terrible. 


 00:13:59

Massimo
It's gotta be terrible. No. Right. All right. Number three. Okay. Christmas design fail the upside down Christmas tree. 


 00:14:12

Speaker 0
Like, okay. 


 00:14:15

Massimo
Unless you are going to be a sick bastard and take it all the way, make it upside down, put presence. 


 00:14:20

Speaker 0
Up on the ceiling and just watch what the kids' reaction is going to be. Unless you're willing to go that far. You have no place having an upside down Christmas tree with presents on the wrong end. Okay. Own it or drop it. Don't get me this dude. That would be so funny as everything stuck to the room and be like, all right. Oh shit. That's two 40. 


 00:14:52

Massimo
All right. Number four, design fail. Fake snow fakes. No. What the hell? The purpose of this number one. If you live in an area where there is stone, you don't want any more. If you're in a tropical place or somewhere down South where they don't have snow, you spring that beach everywhere. 


 00:15:17

Shawn
That's again, that's gotta be offensive. 


 00:15:19

Massimo
The environment offensive to the environment, right. Or worse off, they spray it on their windows. Oh wow. You know, they do that. Right. They put their words in it and this and that. What what the was the purpose? Or they'll spread some cotton balls around to make it look like, because that tricked me. I actually thought there was snow in my damn living room. And upon closer look, 


 00:15:45

Shawn
It was hot balls shit. Oh man. I just, I just thought of something. What's the significance of the gingerbread house. Do you know? That a Christmas thing? It is a Christmas thing, but it's also a handsome cradle. That's what I was thinking. 


 00:16:05

Massimo
Wow. That almost sounds offensive. Didn't they like a woman captured them once. 


 00:16:10

Shawn
Yeah. It was a witch. Wow. 


 00:16:13

Massimo
She was scape. Yes. 


 00:16:14

Shawn
Because their father left them in the woods. Great parents, 


 00:16:20

Massimo
According to Epic and culture, gingerbread was sacred. The only time it was allowed to be made by the general public was during Christmas and Easter. Oh wow. I think some people should take up some issues with the gingerbread house. Cause apparently it came about with some religious connotation. Non-secular. 


 00:16:42

Shawn
There you go. A-holes put that on your list to kill. That was a little side note. I wasn't exactly sure where that was, what the deal was with that. I do have one more Christmas design failed, but this isn't really a design fail. 


 00:16:57

Massimo
Design rant. No this is more of a brand rant brand. Right. Okay. If I have an issue with Christmas, it is what the hell is up with the neglect of rules. Okay. They always talk about all the Santas. Others fricking reindeers, Rudolph was bullied, was made fun of even his, the reindeer coach. Didn't let him play in the games. Okay. He saved the day he saved the MF date. Okay. I just don't want to disrespect, Rudolph. Otherwise I'd be dropping so many bombs and what happened? He saved the day Santas. Like you are going to be leading this for now on. And then he disappeared. 


 00:17:37

Shawn
And that he just disappeared. Now it's funny because I thought that and correct me if I'm wrong. I thought that made the list of, things that were, kind offensive to Christmas and the Christmas elite. 


 00:17:52

Speaker 0
Oh yeah. Because because of the bullying, right? 


 00:17:56

Massimo
Because of the bullying, maybe those crazy Housewives on TV, what is it? The angry moms that rent together. He got rid of Rudolf because of the bullying. He Rose above the bullying to save the day, like wait till. 


 00:18:10

Speaker 0
End of the story. ? Right Wait till the end deeper fucking dad is well-intentioned his stories. His celebrates difference. Does it not? Doesn't it because he's different food. Absolutely. 


 00:18:26

Massimo
Yes. I'm going to take up issue with this. 


 00:18:28

Shawn
Some people, yeah. I have an issue with a really shitty clip. Art Christmas, clip art, your, the stuff you can see them with that heavy aspect, 


 00:18:40

Speaker 0
Black border around it. Oh my God. What I mean? Like that stuff. I'm sure you can find a lot of it on Canva though. 


 00:18:47

Massimo
Okay. For you design experts, go to Canva. 


 00:18:50

Speaker 0
You can get me all over the place. I'm wondering who makes this stuff still isn't there enough Christmas art that we could just draw from now, like, please let it go. Let it go people. 


 00:19:04

Massimo
I think that there's something even more offensive than that. No what's that Christmas fruit cake. Oh. 


 00:19:14

Speaker 0
I almost threw up there. That's again, associated with Christmas. 


 00:19:19

Massimo
There's a brand fail. Okay. 


 00:19:21

Speaker 0
If you could erase something about a brand, you'd want to erase that fruit. 


 00:19:25

Shawn
Yes. Christmas is almost 90% brand sounds, but yeah, they got to get rid of the brand zone, but that shit, 


 00:19:32

Massimo
Yeah. This list. Okay. 


 00:19:35

Speaker 0
Yeah. Why what is that all about? 


 00:19:37

Massimo
Who eats it? Who eats it guys? Come on. Don't. 


 00:19:41

Shawn
Which one of you? People it's somebody say I love Christmas. Oh Ooh. 


 00:19:52

Speaker 0
Fun, fun, good rant. Alright. Yeah. Well buddy, I mean, I think I'm all out of things to be. 


 00:20:00

Shawn
I am a pretty good, I think. 


 00:20:02

Massimo
That's a good one. I'm going to enter the holidays. I'm going to enter the Christmas holidays and yeah. Right. I'm going to enjoy it with my family, with my kids. I am going to celebrate each, be married. I'm going to remember what the w what the meaning is. And it's this it's family. It's giving, it's sharing. It's warms, what? This is the right season for ? And like, don't piss all over it. Exactly. Just as a brand, it's a brand that's been in the mix for a long time. Right. 


 00:20:33

Speaker 0
What it is and appreciate the good, the well-intentioned part of it. Yeah. 


 00:20:37

Shawn
Yes. I know. It's like a huge lead up to that, but the 24th, 25th and 26 magical magic, what I mean? Like such a great, and the. 


 00:20:48

Massimo
Kids love it. Love the idea of Santa, no Santa this year. Like how did you take down kids? I know. Seriously, let me just so Santa doesn't work. If it's a generic winter holiday, my kid is not going to be sitting on some random strangers lap in her red suit. Okay. The hell with that. 


 00:21:10

Speaker 0
Okay. My name is Jan. Oh God people enjoy it. Just relax. All right. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Sean. 


 00:21:24

Massimo
And to everybody else out there, 


 00:21:27

Speaker 0
Merry Christmas. 


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