Retailer “Naughty or Nice” advertising list released

Which stores acknowledge Christmas in their advertising?

Have you grown sick and tired of national retail chains bowing to the very small anti-Christmas minority?

If so, then take a good look at the list below, and use it to fight back when you do your Christmas shopping!

The American Family Association and Liberty Council have each released their annual “Naughty-or-Nice” list that categorizes retailers and how they approach the Christmas season through their advertising.

Some of the names that made the “nice” list are well known companies such as Walmart, JCPenney, Kmart, and Lowe’s. Others fell into a “marginal” list, meaning that they rarely or infrequently referred to Christmas.

The two organizations reviewed up to four areas to determine if a company was “Christmas-friendly” in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store. If a company’s ad has references to items associated with Christmas (trees, wreaths, lights, etc.), it was considered as an at- tempt to reach “Christmas” shoppers.

If a company has items associated with Christmas, but did not use the word “Christmas,” in advertising or store displays then the company is considered as censoring “Christmas.”

AFA continually updates the list, so check afa.net for updates. Want to report a company? Send your detailed report to christmas@afa.net.

AFA has also begun its “Keep Christ in Christmas” campaign. AFA President Tim Wildmon announced that his group is offering wristbands with messages about the battle against “secular liberals.” There are also yard signs and buttons featuring the “Merry Christmas” message available at www.afa.net

“You might ask why we think this is an important battle. Well, secular liberals in our nation are bent on minimizing and even removing any mention of Christian- ity from the public square. And no other time of the year reminds people of Jesus Christ and America’s Christian heritage more than the Christmas season,” Wildmon explained.

Liberty Counsel also monitors cases across the U.S. where there is intimidation by officials and groups to remove the celebration of Christmas in public and private spaces.

These threats include atheist groups seeking to ban nativity scenes from public property, senior living centers that prohibit residents from singing Christmas carols, public schools that ban students

from wearing the Christmas colors of red and green, school officials who censor religious words from Christmas carols, and retailers which profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist, accord- ing to the group’s statement.

Liberty Counsel provides a memorandum to offer guidance regarding publicly and privately sponsored religious holiday displays, religious holidays in public schools and the rights of public school students in the context of religious holidays. For example, publicly sponsored na- tivity scenes on public property are constitutional so long as there is a secular symbol of the holiday in the general con- text. Privately sponsored nativity scenes or religious symbols are also permissible on public property that has been opened to the general public for expressive activity. No secular symbol is necessary.

“Celebrating Christmas is legal in public schools and in public venues. In the private retail market, consumers can choose to patronize stores that recognize Christmas and refuse to buy from those that pretend it does not exist,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.

More information is available at the website, www.lc.org. You can also stay up to date on the subject and participate in the discussion by visiting the Liberty Council Facebook page.