Secular fundamentalists on the Left scowl when Fox News hosts like Bill O’Reilly suggest Christmas isn’t really a religious occasion when public schools host Christmas concerts. Certainly, Christians shouldn’t proclaim Christmas is anything but the celebration of God the Son arriving on Earth in the humblest way.
But there are many classic “Christmas songs” that are really more about snow and cold than Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, from “Sleigh Ride” to “Winter Wonderland.” The same can be said for many less-than-classic pop-star “Christmas” songs like “Last Christmas” by Wham or the latest entry, a brand-new Katy Perry song that doubles as a commercial for reasonably-priced teen fashions. Entertainment Weekly reports:
Dancing gingerbread men, oversized teddy bears, and cartwheeling elves. Those are just a few of the jolly characters helping Katy Perry usher in the holiday season in her video for “Every Day is a Holiday.” The pop star released the song Sunday as part of H&M’s Happy and Merry campaign, and the video for the joyous track features the store’s holiday collection.
Perry stars as a festive fairy, before turning into a nutcracker and getting pulled in a sleigh by human reindeer. A shirtless male model takes on the role of Santa, as Perry joyfully sings, “Every day is a holiday when you’re the reason to celebrate.”
Everyone knows Katy Perry is nothing like a religious artist. Our old friend Father DeMartino once sermonized about how exactly upside-down that is – the notion that “this Christmas, it’s all about you....” instead of about God coming to man. But that’s exactly what Christmas advertising often does. It’s a commercial holiday. It’s already been separated from the church, so the church-state separation question should get pretty easy. But secularists resent the forgotten religious origins hidden inside, that Christmas still has a religious echo in the culture.
In a promotional video about the H&M video, Perry is in tune with her egoistic theme: “It’s very me, it’s very larger than life, I guess.” The commercial ends with Perry wishing "Happy and Merry holidays." On YouTube, the ad language underneath includes "Join H&M and our festive fairy, Katy Perry, as she casts her magic spell and takes us on an action-packed, fun-filled parade through the #HMHoliday season in our #HappyandMerry campaign."
