2008 Woodie Awards
Ho, ho, ho is now no-no
Santas-in-training told to say ha, ha, ha or hee, hee, hee instead
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Editorial
- Page 1 of 1
The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Monday, Nov. 26:
Some holiday controversies are so stupid we hate to dignify them with criticism. This isn't one of them. This one, in fact, is irresistible. Ready? A company that hires Santas to work in shopping malls has advised its employees not to use the word "ho."
"Ho, ho, ho" can be demeaning to women, an over-earnest Santa trainer explained to a group of recruits in Sydney, Australia. An appropriate substitute is "ha, ha, ha."
Hee, hee, hee. Don't you love it?
At least two Santas stomped out of the session in disgust and quickly alerted the media. The public relations crew for Westaff, which provides shopping-mall Santas all over the world, insists the company did not ban the three hos outright; it merely pointed out the fine line between naughty and nice and left things to the discretion of individual Santas.
The suggestion that Santa might be teaching our kids dirty words struck us upside the head like a snowball. All this time we've been blaming that Snoop Dogg character. Could it be ...? But no. A kid who is old enough to snicker over the word "ho" would not be caught dead sitting on Santa's lap. Those crayoned letters to the North Pole have been replaced by catalog Web links, e-mailed directly to the parents - which means the kid has learned to navigate the Internet, and naughty words are the least of our worries.
The PC police have never met a holiday that didn't offend. Halloween fosters Satanism, disparages Wiccans and promotes tooth decay. Valentine's Day marginalizes singles. Thanksgiving glorifies overindulgence and glosses over the ugly chapters of the Pilgrim-Indian story.
But Christmas has always gotten the worst of it. The campaign to put Christ back in Christmas was followed by the campaign to take Him back out and celebrate "the holidays" instead. The annual Christmas pageant is now "Winterfest," and the nativity is not allowed on public property. The threshold for too much political correctness was finally breached this month in Fort Collins, Colo., where a civic task force recommended that red and green lights be banned from the city's holiday display on the grounds that they're too religious. On Tuesday, the City Council thumped the recommendation, 6-1. Ho, ho, ho!
Who are these people who believe the world would be a better place if Christmas lights were white and Santa Claus said "ha, ha, ha" to small children? If you're one of them, ask Santa to bring you a life. If you're not, then we invite you to join our campaign to take back the ho. Are we going to let some rent-a-Santa company turn a spontaneous expression of holiday merriment into a Don Imus epithet?
No, no, no.
Some holiday controversies are so stupid we hate to dignify them with criticism. This isn't one of them. This one, in fact, is irresistible. Ready? A company that hires Santas to work in shopping malls has advised its employees not to use the word "ho."
"Ho, ho, ho" can be demeaning to women, an over-earnest Santa trainer explained to a group of recruits in Sydney, Australia. An appropriate substitute is "ha, ha, ha."
Hee, hee, hee. Don't you love it?
At least two Santas stomped out of the session in disgust and quickly alerted the media. The public relations crew for Westaff, which provides shopping-mall Santas all over the world, insists the company did not ban the three hos outright; it merely pointed out the fine line between naughty and nice and left things to the discretion of individual Santas.
The suggestion that Santa might be teaching our kids dirty words struck us upside the head like a snowball. All this time we've been blaming that Snoop Dogg character. Could it be ...? But no. A kid who is old enough to snicker over the word "ho" would not be caught dead sitting on Santa's lap. Those crayoned letters to the North Pole have been replaced by catalog Web links, e-mailed directly to the parents - which means the kid has learned to navigate the Internet, and naughty words are the least of our worries.
The PC police have never met a holiday that didn't offend. Halloween fosters Satanism, disparages Wiccans and promotes tooth decay. Valentine's Day marginalizes singles. Thanksgiving glorifies overindulgence and glosses over the ugly chapters of the Pilgrim-Indian story.
But Christmas has always gotten the worst of it. The campaign to put Christ back in Christmas was followed by the campaign to take Him back out and celebrate "the holidays" instead. The annual Christmas pageant is now "Winterfest," and the nativity is not allowed on public property. The threshold for too much political correctness was finally breached this month in Fort Collins, Colo., where a civic task force recommended that red and green lights be banned from the city's holiday display on the grounds that they're too religious. On Tuesday, the City Council thumped the recommendation, 6-1. Ho, ho, ho!
Who are these people who believe the world would be a better place if Christmas lights were white and Santa Claus said "ha, ha, ha" to small children? If you're one of them, ask Santa to bring you a life. If you're not, then we invite you to join our campaign to take back the ho. Are we going to let some rent-a-Santa company turn a spontaneous expression of holiday merriment into a Don Imus epithet?
No, no, no.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
Greg Howell
posted 11/30/07 @ 5:32 PM EST
This world we now live in is getting a little ridiculous. What is next, we can't show "A Christmas Story" on TV anymore because it has Christmas in the title. (Continued…)
michmediaperson
posted 12/02/07 @ 1:05 AM EST
CM LIFE should ask CMU officials if they're planning to have any CHRISTMAS concerts.
Not Juletide, Yulefest, Yuletide, Winter Concert, Winter Dance or Holiday Concerts. (Continued…)
workman
posted 12/02/07 @ 3:52 PM EST
Just another way to put intelligent thought into the political meat grinder and shoot out generic and mundane clones. Pretty soon the color blind will be offended by different color christmas lights. (Continued…)
Matt B
posted 12/02/07 @ 6:17 PM EST
"Ho" is Ebonic. Figures.
daniel salas
posted 12/02/07 @ 9:26 PM EST
that is ridiculous, I heard that A dickens Christmas is being changed to A dickens holiday, on that note, HO! HO! HO! has been used for as long as I can remember. (Continued…)
Kim
posted 12/03/07 @ 2:59 PM EST
People should realize that in our society Christmas has
become more than a Christian holiday. I'm not Christian and
I celebrate many Christmas traditions. (Continued…)
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