Dealing with the realities of over-commercialisation By Kerryn Le Cordeur It’s that time of year again – the decorations that were up in the shops since October have finally been packed away and we’re no longer told ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’ every time we turn on our TV sets. Yes folks, we made it through another Christmas; but before you sigh with relief, have you noticed the red and pink hearts, soppy messages and fake flowers that epitomise Valentine’s Day slowly (or perhaps not so slowly) creeping in to take Christmas’ place? It’s February and love is, literally, all around – whether we like it or not. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day – I’m sure I’m forgetting a few – have all become increasingly commercialised over the years as retailers, brands and, subsequently, marketers and advertisers have realised the potential of such ‘holidays’ (for lack of a better word) to rake in the profit and increase their publicity. The question is, has this resulted in the likes of Christmas and Valentine’s Day losing their deeper meaning and becoming over-commercialised? “The campaign was a huge success, we received a huge amount of positive feedback from the media and shoppers commenting on the sincere and fun approach to Christmas”. Leon Crous, Group Account Director at ninety9cents, shares his thoughts on advertising campaigns capitalising on holidays such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day, after the much publicised Checkers Christmas campaign which ninety9cents was behind. He says this campaign was “a huge success, we received a huge amount of positive feedback from the media and shoppers commenting on the sincere and fun approach to Christmas”. For Marius van Rensburg, Creative Director on the Checkers campaign for ninety9cents, the vision was to create one of those special Christmas commercials that make the magical emotions associated with the festive season real again. “When I was a child, Christmas was always announced by the arrival of the toy catalogue in our mailbox. I would be swept away by the colourful Christmas decorations in all the stores. This was the feeling I wanted to communicate with this ad.”