Christmas ornaments

I don't even want to talk about Christmas yet, but some shops are already advertising Christmas items.  The opening date for Christmas gets earlier each year. 

I happened across some Christmas items from Christopher Radko ornaments, today.  Of course Santa is there in all his confusing glory - I always ask myself how does Santa manage to look like so many different people each year?  But some of the other ornaments on display have got me a bit flummoxed as to their relevance to Christmas.  There's the Thick Pink Nick Breast Cancer Awareness Santa ornament, for instance, or the Important Piece Autism Awareness Santa.  These are collectables, I guess, so you can put them on your shelf (they only cost around US$50 a throw) and remind all your friends about breast cancer and autism as they go ooh and aah at each item.

There's Papa Plumage (he's a pretty-looking fellow, but his relevance to Christmas escapes me) and Claus for a Cure - HIV AIDs Awareness.  Plainly we can't just have Christmas, we have to be reminded of something else at the same time.  Admittedly there is a Nativity scene in the range, called Holy Reflections.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph all feature in it.  But since this appears to be the only one of its kind in the design catalogue, it tells us a good deal about what people think Christmas is actually about.

Though with items like the Jolly Jockey, the Gift Giving Emperor Penguin, Mr Mcbroom, Vest of All it may not be surprising people can't remember.

Topsy Turvy!

One of my former customers who now lives in Australia, sends a note about his latest blog posts most weeks.  This particular blog (The Inspiration Room) has wide range of media material on it, but the particular section that comes up relates to videos and stills from advertising campaigns - ones we never see here in NZ for the most part. 

In a recent post he put links to a couple of videos from Johannesburg.   One was part of an ad campaign, the other a longer follow-up.   They relate to the Topsy Foundation which works with people who have HIV AIDs.   In the ad, a woman called Selinah is seen deteriorating from a healthy state to advanced AIDS.   But in the follow-up she is once more healthy, with normal weight.   The only difference is she's having to use a stick to get around. 

The reason she's healthy again is that she's had anti-retrovirals (ARVs) administered.   The AIDs symptoms are virtually reversed. 

You can see the two videos on the Topsy site.