We live in a funny world. The American South is embroiled in a Christmas controversy over Confederate flags in community Christmas parades because many now define that flag as offensive, even though it has been in past parades for decades without a batted eye.
But their Yankee cousins aren’t free from the offensive things of Christmas either. Just because they come from a store doesn’t mean this stuff should be paraded around, at least according to some. This is the odd tale of two Christmas sweaters. The first many know about.
Target Corp came under fire weeks ago for selling a bright red Christmas sweater with the tagline of “OCD — Obsessive Christmas Disorder” emblazoned on the front. Like the Confederate flag, this is not a new item on the shelves of Target at Christmas. It is also a meme that has floated around on social media for years. But 2015 is the year of being offended and those with the very real mental disorder of OCD are now really upset at Target for mocking their disease.
While some people would like to see it pulled from store shelves, Target says it plans to keep selling the sweater during the holidays.
Meanwhile, another store has a Christmas controversy over another sweater. Uber-snooty Nordstrom’s — yes, those uppity merchants who every year make hay by claiming to “celebrate one holiday at a time” and refusing to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving — had to quickly remove a Hanukkah it had for sale on store shelves (in November??). The Nordstom’s sweater was by the label Faux Real that reads “Chai Maintenance” followed by “Hannukah J.A.P.,” referring to the abbreviation for Jewish American Princess. Needless to say, customers on Nordstrom’s Facebook page were not pleased, with one poster calling the slogan “degrading.”
Nordstrom’s — fearing the discovery that they actually DO celebrate holidays prematurely — quickly removed the item from their shelves.
“We made a mistake by not looking more closely at the words on the sweater before we posted it — had we done so, we wouldn’t have offered it,” said Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow. “As soon as we heard from customers, we removed it from our site right away. We’re terribly sorry for offending people and sincerely apologize.”
No word yet on whether or not Sons of Confederate Veterans plan to wear these sweaters to Christmas parades held this year in the South.