Twin Cities–based Best Buy has responded to criticisms over an ad circular that wishes Muslims a happy Eid Al-Adha — by standing firm. “Best Buy’s customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations,” said Best Buy rep Lisa Svac Hawks. “We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions.”
Further, deflating a criticism repeatedly leveled by conservative activists, she said shoppers will see the word “Christmas” in holiday marketing: “Christmas will be included in our insert and online. We have ‘Merry Christmas’ on our gift cards, too. In addition. we have developed the Christmas Morning simulator as an online interactive game.” (That message doesn’t seem to be getting through: Many news outlets, including a Denver Fox affiliate, cover the story with rhetoric like, “‘Merry Christmas’ is off-limits, but ‘Happy Eid al-Adha’ is apparently okay.“)
In another publication, Hawks said that, in addition to Eid wishes, “you will see greetings of Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and Feliz Navidad in various Best Buy communications during the holiday season.”
That might rile conservatives, too. Already, the American Family Association has lashed out at the Gap for giving equal billing to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Solstice in a new TV commercial — although that group’s main concern is the inclusion of Solstice.
Imad Hamad, the regional Midwest director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, sees the greeting as a “welcome gesture from Best Buy,” adding that many of the complaints against it illustrate the kind of “anti-Islamic virus we’ve been hearing and dealing with.”
Likewise, Ahmed Rehab, from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says it’s the first time he recalls an American retailer mentioning Eid in ads: “It makes perfect business sense to acknowledge and celebrate a holiday that one out of four people celebrate.
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