Christmas break is a long, rather boring stretch of time at the end of the year. After the obligatory holiday cheer there is a fairly long stretch of days when we that have the time off are expected to entertain ourselves. Being of the teenage persuasion, I decided to watch a little television. I rarely watch much TV, but even in that short time I became aware of a disturbing trend during the holiday season. I am referring, of course, to the ads that flood the airwaves during the Christmas season.

They start around November 25 and continue right into the new year. The wave of ads gradually builds strength through the weeks of December until Christmas Eve, when it becomes a veritable tsunami. Each year the date for first showing theses ads gets earlier and earlier. If the current trend continues we will reach a point, not far down the road, when we will start seeing ads for next year's Christmas, leaving us with year-round Christmas ads.

Which would be a terrible thing. Most companies try to cash in on the holiday excitement, because they think Christmas is the perfect opportunity to sell all sorts of products. It used to be that these ads sold Christmas trees, wreathes and other Noël-related items. This is no longer the case. Today every product has jumped on the wave-of-cash bandwagon, from cereal to computers to cars. I saw a commercial with Santa Claus pitching hot tubs. I don't see how one could fit on his sleigh without slowing the reindeer down to walking speed; let alone fitting down a chimney.

Another great example of the over-commercialization is a series of ads I saw. They had a familiar Christmas face: Rudolph, the loveable stop-motion reindeer. The customary scene from the show quickly changed and the commercial's true nature shined through. Rudolph was getting a cell phone for Christmas! What better reason to get a cell phone than on the advice of a 1960's-era reindeer! A better expert, I couldn't find! Our favorite reindeer was twisted for commercialism.

Of course, these weren't the only Christmas-flavored ads I saw. It was a veritable tidal wave of marketing frenzy! Santa says buy this coffee! Frosty says buy this gum to keep your breath icy-fresh! The Grinch eats at this fast-food joint! There were entire commercial breaks, entire shows even, where I saw not one secular advertisement. Is this what Christmas is about? Increased cash flow?

Sickened, I changed the channel. Oh, look! Another Christmas-themed ad! It had all the familiar stuff: "I'll Be Home For Christmas" playing slowly in the background. A few seconds into the commercial, I realized it was different. No cars or phones or candy for sale here. Nothing was for sale, far as I could tell. As a Christmas commercial, it was a dismal failure. There was just a homeless man, walking in an alley somewhere. How could sad music and no pitching sell a product? My question was answered when the title popped up: Salvation Army. Imagine that. Awash in a sea of commercialism, consumerism and avarice, one meaningful commercial managed to stay afloat.

All of the other ads did not affect me one bit. They did not sway my decision to buy this product or that one. I still got my family the gifts I'd planned to all along when Christmas came. But whenever I passed a Salvation Army worker, dutifully ringing his bell in the sub-zero temperature, I made sure I had some change to drop in the dish. Amid all of those ads, one was effective. But one was all that was necessary.