I write today of "Christmas gift idea" lists, a veritable plague at this time of year, with every magazine and newspaper and newspaper magazine dripping with elaborate lists of gift ideas for your dearly beloved.
Now, it is well known that the infant Jesus received gold, frankincense and myrrh on the occasion of his birth but the extravagance of this (birthday) gift for our saviour should not be used as a benchmark for all subsequent Christmas gifts from then and into eternity.
There may be the odd person you like to really splurge on at Christmas but I'm guessing most of us are not in the position to give even those very dear few $13,000 bicycles, $5,000 bottles of scotch, $3,000 watches or $1,000 paddle boards. Or even "POA" clutches, $1,100 necklaces, $700-worth of lacy underwear, and $500 dresses and hats. [1] So why do these lists continue to include such items, year after year? [2] Who do they think reads their publications, oil tycoons and internet billionaires?
The writers and editors of these lists need to take a good, hard look at both themselves and their subscriber base and re-think.
ALICE CANNON, MELBOURNE
- Guess which products were sourced from a 'gifts for her' and which from a 'gifts for him' list!
- I'm guessing it has something to do with advertisers and conveniently-timed press releases.
Apropos of nothing, did you know that back issues of CRANK's sister publication Materiality are now available for just $10 each? (The current issue, SURFACE, is only a little more at $15). Of interest to all genders!