have any of you prepared to buy christmas presents and greeting cards to give as gift???

if so what you have bought?

and for whom?

 

And also Merry Christmas to all the coldplaying members in advance....:laugh3:

Oh I haven't bought anything yet....I have only one idea....me and my two sisters want to go to the photographer a make a picture of the three of us....and then we want to give it to our parents as a christmas present...:D

I've decided I'm buying mine online! Bought 3 last night. This is early for me. Usually I'm a 'leave it to Christmas Eve' kind of person lol

 

Christmas cards just seem like a total waste of money. If I didn't feel guilty because other people had given me one I wouldn't bother with them at all.

Christmas wish lists corrupted by big toy companies' ad blitz

 

By SEAN POULTER, Last updated at 10:40am on 6th December 2006

All I want for Christmas: is, apparently, whatever is shown in the most ads on TV - such as these Bratz dolls, the street-wise version of Barbie

 

 

 

The Christmas lists sent to Santa by millions of children are being corrupted by the TV advertsing blitz of the big toy companies.

Psychologists have discovered a direct correlation between the number of times a particular toy is advertised and whether it features on a child's wish list.

 

Girls, it is claimed, are particularly being targeted by commercials for toys such as the Barbie doll and her street-style rival the controversial Bratz dolls.

 

Boys are being effectively brainwashed to want Hot Wheels and Scalextric racing car games, it is claimed.

TV advertising rules specifically state that companies should not use commercials to get children to pester their parents to buy a product for them.

However, this is exactly what is happening when youngsters influenced by TV commercials fill out a list of presents they want in a letter to Santa.

Girls as young as four are being influenced by the marketing hard sell for big brands, according to experts at the University of Hertfordshire.

Researchers found that youngsters are bombarded by an average of 38 commercials for toys and games every hour on children's TV in the run-up to Christmas.

Dr Karen Pine and Penny Wilson conducted in-depth interviews with 98 children, aged between six and eight years.

The children told the researchers how much television they watched, when and which channels they preferred viewing.

At the same time they monitored which toys were being advertised across the TV networks and how often. They then looked at the children’s letters to Santa and conducted an analysis to see the extent to which they featured advertised toys.

They concluded: "Children who watched a lot of television, e.g. more than 2 hours per day, asked Santa for more of the toys they had seen on TV.

"Some children listed as many as 18 different items they wanted.

"Children who watched commercial channels asked for significantly more advertised items than children who preferred to watch non-commercial channels."

The team found adverts that targeted girls appeared far more frequently than those aimed at boys. Consequently, girls also asked Santa for more advertised toys than boys.

Other research by Dr Pine has also found that girls are more aware of big brands which are heavily advertised than boys from the age of four.

Dr Pine said: "Our research shows that children’s choices are heavily influenced by what they see on television.

"By age six children are absorbing persuasive television messages and making consumer choices, even to the extent of telling Santa to buy it from Toys ‘R’ Us or Argos!

"The heavy targeting of girls is particularly worrying. It suggests that girls are more actively encouraged to become consumers from an early age."

And they've JUST worked this out?! :laugh3:

I've decided I'm buying mine online! Bought 3 last night. This is early for me. Usually I'm a 'leave it to Christmas Eve' kind of person lol

 

Christmas cards just seem like a total waste of money. If I didn't feel guilty because other people had given me one I wouldn't bother with them at all.

 

I agree. Buying online is definitely the way to go, and Christmas cards are indeed a waste of money and paper!!;)

Oh I haven't bought anything yet....I have only one idea....me and my two sisters want to go to the photographer a make a picture of the three of us....and then we want to give it to our parents as a christmas present...:D

 

well i've sent my friend a greeting card online for 25th.Really

it is of a christmas tree on it.

And your present is great!!!lol.:kiss: :laugh3:

I'm two-thirds of the way there. Done what I do every year and shopped around so some is online, some from the bricks and mortar shops!! ANd I would love to tell you what I've bought but some of it is for Ian and i don't want to spoil the surprise!!

Tell Jen! :p

 

I have not gone christmas shopping yet. :sleep:

i haven't done any xmas shopping yet. however, i have a staff xmas party on sunday and we're doing the whole "secret santa" thing :dozey: lol anyway, i have to get something for this guy, around 20 years of age like me, and i have no idea what to get him. i don't wanna go all out, and at the same time i don't wanna get something random.

gosh, what an awkward situation, getting a gift for a guy i don't even know. maybe a cd but i have no clue to his music interests and i can't sus it out before the party.

 

any ideas? lol sorry if this is quite off track.

I made cards for everyone in my year...and thats all so far:D

i haven't done any xmas shopping yet. however, i have a staff xmas party on sunday and we're doing the whole "secret santa" thing :dozey: lol anyway, i have to get something for this guy, around 20 years of age like me, and i have no idea what to get him. i don't wanna go all out, and at the same time i don't wanna get something random.

gosh, what an awkward situation, getting a gift for a guy i don't even know. maybe a cd but i have no clue to his music interests and i can't sus it out before the party.

 

any ideas? lol sorry if this is quite off track.

 

 

If you dont know his music taste, maybe you could just get him a cd gift voucher or something

thanks Carole, i've considered that and i think it may be what i end up doing :/ lol my sister suggested a xmas teddy but i thought it would be sending the wrong message lol

I bought my mom the Narnia DVD...that's about it so far...

 

...and I think I'm donating $136 to a fund to buy Chris a t-shirt,lol.

alrighty, i think i have a solution to the problem i posted earlier.

 

his gift will be:

~ takk album by sigur ros

~ arobtth album

~ earphones...that will depend on the price

 

afterall, i don't wanna go broke over someone i hardly know :uhoh: :lol:

I hope I'll have all presents in time...:uhoh:

yes, i've already got all the presents! :)

my mum - the new iPod Shuffle (shared the cost with my sister)

my dad - memory card for his new camera

my sister - "Red Delicious", which is a perfume she wanted

my two best girl friends - a shirt and a DVD for the other one

my best male friend - a calendar for which you have to create the sheets your own

other male friend - a bracelet (saw it and instantly reminded me of him!)