This was a complaint email I sent to Leon's Furniture Ltd. over the content of their commercial at the beginning of the holiday season last year. At the end of the message I mention I would be sending my views to the Broadcast Standards/Advertising organization. I did. The results of that correspondence will have to remain confidential as they requested. Although I did not directly state it in the email, it is my belief that you could challenge a company from a legal perspective on use of religious content of any kind. That being said, I am not a lawyer so I could be mistaken. I have no plans to test my theory, it is just an opinion. Any law student or professor reading this should just calm down. As I said, its an opinion. A copy of the email message is copied below. If anyone has questions or their own opinions, you can reach me at
msdogfood@hotmail.com
Last November I noticed you have begun the Ho Ho Ho sales event. Near the end of the ad you say Merry Christmas which is an OK statement if you happen to be Christian. However, it can be viewed as discriminatory to anyone who practices a religion other than Christianity or anyone who doesn't believe in a religion. Technically speaking you shouldn't show preference to one religion over another in the same way government institutions can't. I am aware that in practice, anyone can put up a Christmas tree but those who do not like the Christian symbolism can challenge you which can cause bad press and legal bills. For practical purposes, if you want to use religious symbolism, you have to represent them all. Since this is not practical due to the number of religions (and variations), stay neutral and I will have much less of a problem watching your commercials. I plan to forward my views to Broadcast Standards organizations
