Some people love the holidays. They love the jolly aura, the lights on the trees, and singing holiday songs on repeat. Some people are a Grinch or a Scrooge and hate the holidays. They hate having to scrape snow off their cars and bundling up for a five minute walk to class.
Starbucks is one company that loves to exploit the holidays as much as they can with their new holiday food and drinks. Such drinks include new Frappuccinos, such as the Peppermint Mocha and the Creme Brulée.
Or if you are in the mood for a hot drink, perhaps the Peppermint Hot Chocolate or the Creme Brulée is more your taste. And wait, if you are hungry, there are also different holiday-themed pastries for sale. Starbucks loves to make the season about the gift of giving, and they have holiday themed merchandise to give to your friends and family.
Personally, the Starbucks holiday drinks and treats are overrated. They do not even taste that good and most of the cold drinks are just ice anyways. Although all this may seem jolly and fun, Starbucks is part of the commercialization of the holidays.
Sometimes, commercialization can be a good thing. It boosts the economy with the revenue that comes in from holiday products. In fact, stores, such as Walmart, Kohls, and any place that sells a gift card, love the commercialization because of the profit they make from gift buyers.
Buying a gift is all good and fine until you realize you’ve maxed out a credit card or bought a gift too early and realize there is only a thirty day return policy.
I, personally, like making gifts for my friends and family. It shows them I truly care and put a lot of time and heart into their gifts. For example, one Christmas I drew a big portrait of my friend and her dog. She absolutely loved it and thought it was the best gift she had ever received.
However, Starbucks knows that most people do not want to spend time on gifts, so they sell their holiday mugs and coffee bags to the public.
It is, after all, good for business. But when did the holidays become a time about money and revenue? When did we forget the holidays is about spending time with the ones you love?
So instead of adding to the commercialization of the holidays, we should relish in the fact that this is a time about being grateful, thankful, and kind to one another.
We should live by these habits of the holidays all year round.
It is about being with family and friends, seeing the joy of a child’s face when they meet Santa for the first time or when they give a macaroni necklace to their parents. The holidays are such a precious time of year. This year, I always recommend setting a goal.
The goal of this year should be to give at least one homemade gift. The feeling you get from giving someone a gift you personally put time and effort into is the greatest of all.
Most importantly, spend the holidays not focused on money, but focused on each other. It is after all, the happiest time of the year.
Emily Rubino
Opinions Editor