To hate every single advertisement that refers to the "perfect" Christmas?

Deedaa that made me howl with laughter, i hope its a "perfect" day for you and yours

Adverts usually pass me by. I block them in my iPad and mobile and mentally block them out visually on TV or around the town. I'm sure many people do this - just too many, too much, too similar.

Just do what you want to do for Christmas, buy gifts you think people would like at a price you can afford, and stuff all the ads up the turkey's backside.

The best Christmas for me is to have all the family under one roof (not mine). This year senior GD won't be there - going sunseeking with boyfriend - but the GC are of an age when they can all muck in and help in the kitchen, if their dads will tolerate them, while granny and DiL will settle down with ginger wine and 'It's a Wonderful Life'.

PS - I meant to add that I don't think my role reversal ideal Christmas conforms to any advertiser's perfect picture!

merlotgran l do agree re smug Round Robins, our favourite comes from DH's cousin, never read such a self congratulatory piece in my life, then the husband joins in and they pat each other on the back ad nauseam. Obviously not familiar with the parable of the Pharisee, and she's a vicar !

I loathe the commercialisation of Christmas and every other aspect of family life. So much misery created by advertising.

If you want a proper Christmas go to church, you will always be welcome, church is the real deal for Christmas. Other than that, if you want to lord it over other people and compete for perfection you can do it on the other 364 days.

It is all about greed and achievement, the perfect dress/ dinner/ party/ present, none of that is Christmas!!!!

I don't usually watch ads but there was some tosh on a commercial channel and I had to sit through a stream of Christmas advertisements. I have to say I rather enjoyed all the artificial jollity but then I shall only see them once.

They were nothing like a real Christmas which is as full of flaws and foibles as are the people celebrating the season. Last year our lovely and generous children gave us a new TV and my husband spent the whole of Christmas afternoon drilling and refitting the furniture so the TV could be in place for 'Downton Abbey' that evening. The house was full of chaos, dust and extremeley loud noide for about two hours.

My mother, who has the first stages of Alzheimer's went off to the kitchen to get away from the noise the kitchen and 'stole', opened and drank my DD's present of a special bottle of liquor bought by her boyfriend. My DD was very upset and then mum drank even more and caused a row over the Christmas dinner (which we have in the evening).

Still, our far from perfect Christmas was fine and we are all looking forward to the next one. My DD thinks we can manage not to be upset by things because we do not have too many others. With 15 in the house someone is bound to be cross or upset.

granoffour, thank you! what an enchanting advertisement - never mind what it is selling...

My Christmases were always spoiled by [alcoholic] father having tantrums, so I tried very hard to have "perfect" days for my family - until I realised that it was my expectations not theirs... So on 24th midday, i shut up shop and played with the DCs, and really enjoyed myself. Lesson learned!

talking of ads, has anyone noticed that the ads on this website are of perfectly beautiful, slim, mobile, well groomed/dressed "older" people - not a million miles away from all of us, of course

Nearly all my friends go for the full caboodle (starting from late Nov they all have their trees etc up)and I feel very curmudgeonly and bah humbug .I just keep quiet. I love my DDs coming home for Christmas and some family time (we had Christmas Day on Christmas Eve last year on Boxing Day the one before as DD2 works in Nhs )I do put up decorations (I 'collect'cribs) and a tree and we do have traditional food etc But I (and DH especially)cannot bear the conspicuous consumption and comercialism of it all .We have a tiny family and the image of those huge happy gatherings makes me a bit sad sometimes especially as my only sibling died tragically young earlier this year

I love watching Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation,Now THAT is more realistic and true to life than all the soppy ads put together!

It distresses me to wander round Grand Central Shopping Centre, where the message seems to be that you should give give give(i.e.spend spend spend), and if you don't/can't do this, then you don't really love your family/friends. Sad and pathetic, yet folk seem to fall for it!

Good for you sunseeker we all should spend Christmas the way we want. Sorry to hear about your DH. I lost my son 9years ago it isn't the same but we get by. Have a nice Christmas your way.

We had the latest edition of the world's worst round robin today. Written in the third person, full of exotic foreign holidays taken, house extensions built etc etc, They only live a mile away from us and I've seen them once this year. Why bother?
I do try to shut out perfect Christmas ads, but DH will tear smug letter to shreds as soon as he knows it's come!

i enjoy the christmas ads - apart from the john lewis one which isn't really christmassy to me.
i know we won't have a "perfect" christmas as shown by the ads but our christmas is perfect for us!!
i'm looking forward to christmas day once again and, quite frankly, i just don't care about the consumerism - i buy what i want for my family out of love .......... the same way i buy the food and drink.
i believe in the baby jesus and also father christmas - and enjoy every moment of the christmas period.

What annoys me is the constant barrage of ads for funeral policies !!!!! What do you want for Christmas > Oh a funeral policy please ,,,,you get a free pen !!!!

Where do people see all this constant parade of perfect Christmas ads? Admittedly I do not watch much television, I go shopping in my small local market town each week. Quick trip to Waitrose, which is Christmassy, but not consumerist, around the rest of the shops for any other shopping/banking hairdressing. All the shops are dressed up for Christmas, but nothing obviously consumerist.

Ads in local paper saying 'Buy your turkey/Christmas tree/decorations from us' but none suggest their product is needed for a perfect Christmas and most are 'illustrated' by Word clip art not pictures of families.

Most of my days I have more interesting and productive things to do than schlepp around the shops tutting at every Christmas ad I see.

Anya has put it so well. Exactly how I feel!

As my DH won't watch anything with adverts, we have to record and then fast-forward, so I haven't actually seen any of these "perfect Christmas" ones.

I have seen - on Facebook - what I think is the most enchanting ad, it's the one for Heathrow Airport with the two teddy bears. It's probably on Youtube, but I can't do the link thing ...

There you go, gulligranny.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE6h531YaL4

I love it too!

Absolutely hate the Xmas ads.

Irritating and annoying. I always have the remote control to hand and then MUTE them.
It's the only way to ignore them.

Or I guess we could turn the telly of.

The advertisers sell dreams & whilst we all know dreams are not real sometimes we find ourselves aspiring to them. People invest a huge amount into one day..we might be better to spread the love and family contact more evenly through the year!

I can picture a scene with people walking through deep snow carrying parcels, going into a house where a blazing log fire and piles of presents lie around the tree. Smart glam people and the hostess smiling in a relaxed way. Lovely but somebody has to grit the roads, chop the wood , carry it into the house, somebody has to cook and probably be up all night preparing food, amuse the kids, talk to Ga ga elderly relatives and worst of all do the clearing up and stack dishwasher and unpack it. So for every lovely item someone has to slave, usually the woman. Sod it, I make a simple dinner for my unappreciative mother, share our presents and I read while she falls asleep. End of.

Deeda......... Thanks........ I will carry that thought with me for as long as I can. Nobody dead, indeed. Just wonderful. Again........ huge thanks.