Best Buy Ad Touting Muslim Holiday Sparks Debate

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Best Buy ad with a Muslim theme is raising questions of how retailers should mark religious holidays.

The ad on BestBuy.com wishes Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday that lasts three days and happens to fall on the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

A BestBuy.com message board has been filled with mixed responses since the ad was posted, MyFoxTwinCities.com reports.

One says, “Thank you Best Buy for the Eid Greetings!! I plan to spend more money at BB (Best Buy.) Thank you for being inclusive of various cultures.”

Another post wasn’t as supportive: “Happy Eid Al-Adha but no Merry Christmas? I assume your next advertisements will say Merry Christmas. Otherwise, I will no longer shop at best buy. I will shop at those businesses which support Christmas.”

Best Buy released a statement saying, “We do use the word ‘holiday’ in some of our advertising because it is meant to be inclusive to everyone. However, just as we have in the past, we will also reference specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa in our weekly ads, store signage and other advertising vehicles.”

I don’t get it.  I don’t understand how marketing firms can think it is non-offensive to generalize Christian Holidays and then specifically market to Muslims on  Islamic holidays.  I don’t have a problem with gearing their marketing towards Muslims and their holidays.  Though, were I Muslim, I’d be offended with the commercial targeting of such a holy occasion.  However, I question the wisdom of surrendering to the PC Police when it comes to Christianity by steering away from the use of terms like “Merry Christmas” and instead using Happy Holidays while specifically targeting Muslim holidays and using Islamic terms in the advertising such as “Eid Mubarak.”  Muslims be careful.  This is the first step towards commercializing your holy days.  The last step is the loss of all meaning except gaining a profit from your religious and semi-religious cohorts.

As the old saying goes, BUYER BEWARE!

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I believe that God has no true connection to any of the established religions of our age.  Every religioin/church of our age is an offshoot of some system of governance and all have been used for the accumulation and furtherance earthly authority/power.

I believe that God loves all of humanity and accepts all of mankind despite religious belief or affiliation. Furthermore, I believe that if he was as active an interloper in the affairs of man, he would have destroyed all of the current set of religions much as the Bible portrays him as destroying Sodom and Gomorra. All earthly religions are corruptions of the true spirit of God and humanity.  Whether it be the Protestant/Catholic schism of Christianity or the Shi’a/Sunni schism of Islam, all sow discord and divide when they should be uniting energies for all of mankind.

Only when a religion unites mankind through compassion, spirituality and love–faith, hope and love–only then will a religion have the true authority and standing of God.

God is Faith.

God is Hope.

God is Love

For all of humanity. Not one race. Not one belief. Not only for straight people. Not only for Jews or gentiles or Muslims or Hindus or anyone one specific people.

God is for all of humanity.

Enough on Religion and it’s ill effects on humanity.

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My boy Farhad is leaving for Iran on Saturday. He probably won’t be back until after I depart for leave. Today, I wrote him a letter of introduction to the Embassy of the Netherlands for his Visa application. If all goes well, he’ll depart for the Netherlands before I return. I’m going to miss Farhad.   And so it begins, the end draws near.