This is the war on Christmas, brought to you by McDonald's and the desperate pursuit of the Almighty Dollar:
According to an internal memo obtained by Ad Age, McDonald's is pushing franchisees to open on Christmas in a bid to lift December sales.
"Starting with Thanksgiving, ensure your restaurants are open throughout the holidays," reads the Nov. 8 memo from McDonald's USA Chief Operating Officer Jim Johannesen. "Our largest holiday opportunity as a system is Christmas Day. Last year, [company-operated] restaurants that opened on Christmas averaged $5,500 in sales" [Maureen Morrison, "McDonald's to Franchisees: Merry Christmas. Now Open Your Stores," Advertising Age, 2012.12.17].
Thousands of employees across the country will thus have the "opportunity" to skip family gatherings and sling factory burgers for minimum wage:
So are employees paid more to work holidays? [McDonald's spokeswoman Heather] Oldani said she can't speak for franchisees, but "when our company-owned restaurants are open on the holidays, the staff voluntarily sign up to work. There is no regular overtime pay" [Morrison, 2012.12.17].
So who's the materialistic, secular force threatening one of the holiest days in Christendom? It's not this socialist, atheist blogger; it's the capitalist one-percenters who see Christmas Day as just another opportunity to boost profits, and their franchisees and employees as tools to that crass end.
War on Christmas—I'm Lovin' It!®
If McDonald's were to close all of its franchises on Christmas day, I suppose that some atheists would attack them for catering to religion.
Happy Holidays, Stan. My guess is we could all survive without a McDonalds being open on Christmas Day.
I guess I was a bit shocked to see a glass Christmas ornament in a can shape with the Budweiser beer label on it. That really shows the true Christmas spirit. I suppose all the bars will be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The original war on Christmas was waged by the good Christian Protestant sect that we know as the Pilgrims, the very ones who landed on Plymouth Rock (or thereabouts) and who thereby founded our nation. Our Pilgrim founders thought Christmas and Easter were sacreligious fests. They made a great show of not celebrating these religious holidays, and working hard through the day. Of course, as in most things religious, there was a bit more wassailing going on amongst the folks after they had put in a show for the pastor than the religious authorities would approve of.
Ok, Bill-O and Faux News..... who are you going to go with? Capitalism or Christmas? tick, tock, tick, tock
Get a grip, man, this is the US. McDonald's is open on Hanuka, Passover, Ramadan, Buddhist holidays, etc. Everyone knows that one of the best days of the year for Chinese restaurants is Christmas. Get a grip, get over imposing ones culture on others, and move on.
Besides the "War on Christmas" is older than the US. It was founded by the puritans who demanded that shops remain open and there be no pagan Christmas fest activities. Oh for the history ye don't know:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/opinion/the-puritan-war-on-christmas.html?_r=0
http://www.historytoday.com/chris-durston/lords-misrule-puritan-war-christmas-1642-60
Mr. Sibby, is the zombie epidemic going to prevent us all from being able to visit McDonalds this xmas? If I'm not going to be around past Friday I want to eat my large-sized turkey and tater TV dinners soon.
Well, since I refuse to eat the garbage that MickyD's passes off as food on a normal day...
But I do like a good Big Mac every now and then....