Before the Great Recession, the Holidays (oh, whom am I kidding) Christmas in advertising was a blast. Holiday-themed swag from vendors and clients literally littered the office. Festive tins of chocolates and tri-flavored popcorn (sticky caramel, powdery cheese and oily butter) were to be found everywhere. Holiday parties were creatively disguised as end-of-year meetings (for tax write-offs) and went from 3 p.m. to the wee hours, depending where the after-party was. If you were lucky, a creative director or account group head had an generously open bar tab courtesy of a Gold Card, for business expenses, naturally. It was the most wonderful time of the year.
Nowadays, it seems, any boxes lying around the office aren’t filled with goodies. They’re for you to put your things in as you wind down your tenure at your newly former agency. The last few Decembers have brought layoffs in advertising as well as countless other businesses.
We all know the story. It’s becoming as common as a Christmas Carol and other tales of Christmas past. The economy is in the toilet. Clients aren’t spending. Consumers aren’t spending. The big Scrooge-y holding company wants/needs/demands to make its numbers for the year. (ed. note: for the record, the writer is Jewish and has no problem mentioning Christmas by name. If you find this offensive, you may pray for his soul. Thank you.). By the end of the year, cuts must be made. Some happen on December 1. Some have happened as late as December 18. I know business is business, but I’m sorry. Getting the boot a week before Christmas will suck the wind out of any flying reindeer. Does anyone realize how demeaning it must feel to walk out of the office, cardboard boxes in hand, though the lobby of an office building that is chalk-full of tacky and/or elaborate Holiday decorations. One year, I heard of a company passing out pink slips on the same day a choir was belting out Yuletide songs a few floors below. Some sleigh ride that turned out to be.
Would it be any less painful to hold off until January? Probably not. However. There is some merit for that as everyone’s already depressed during the bleak January weeks, so maybe it wouldn’t feel as dismal. But at least you’re sparing yourself from hearing a child say “All I want for Christmas is a new job for Mommy and/or Daddy” between sips of spiked eggnog.
So as Christmas 2009 approaches, we can thankfully wrap up this crazy year and even crazier decade, let’s hope that future Decembers will be a little brighter. When we can look upon the rest of the year as a good one with much accomplished. When the only thing cardboard boxes are used for is presents, and not to store the contents of your desk.
From the ranks of the underemployed, happy holidays!
Brad Mislow is a freelance senior copywriter/ACD. He lives in New York and gets into the Christmas spirit as much as a Jew can. His festive website is www.bradmislow.com.
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