Spiked: The good business of debt

Thank God Christmas is over! Because the feast of love can endanger your health. There is particularly much noise when the holy days unnecessarily extend the weekend, which fortunately was not the case in 2010. The Stapo Zurich did have to be called out over the Christmas holidays because ox and donkey were once again threatening to bash each other's skulls in, but only six times. Holy cow!

It's not just the unwanted closeness to the family that can cause the house to go awry, but especially if the right gifts aren't under the tree. That's why the mail order company Forzieri came up with a very special Christmas promotion: Two days before the holiday, the brand mail order company drew attention to its Christmas campaign "Give us the blame!" by e-mail: Anyone who had not thought about it, or had thought about it too late, that it would be Christmas again at the end of this year, could order heartfelt gifts for their loved ones until 5 p.m. on December 29. With an enclosed card, Forzieri then asked the recipient to forgive the - oops! - late delivery. It was as if it wasn't the gift-giver who had done something wrong, but the shipping department. And, of course, the post office. "Simply click on 'Blame us' during the ordering process," and the excuse is ready. A clever as well as bleak idea, it exposes the widespread senselessness and heartlessness of the annual gift-giving battle. The extent to which the business with the debt was able to boost the company's sales could not be ascertained by the time of going to press. Nor was it possible to identify a culprit for this information gap.

Not receiving a gift is bad. It's better to be presented with junk that you really can't use. Because he can simply sell it again. And if you're busy auctioning off your gifts, you won't have time to argue. Speaking of which: Do you still need some purple socks? Every year after Christmas, more ties and model airplanes, video games and gold watches are sold on Ricardo.ch than during the entire rest of the year. The cash registers never sound sweeter!

After all, religious feelings arise when shopping, whether on time or late. The Danish brand consultant Martin Lindstrom was recently able to prove this - with a study that is said to have been elaborate and presumably costly. When shopping, the same brain region is stimulated as when praying. Jesus ¬Maria! Which brings us back to Christmas. The annual Christmas consumption battle is as certain as the Amen in the church. After all, not everyone who falls asleep before the priest's blessing on Christmas Eve also allows for a little fatigue in the department store wonderland.

If neither praying nor buying helped to satisfy your sweetheart in 2010, you should try online dating in 2011. Since New Year's Eve, people have been contacting and dating each other on the Internet. Elitepartner.ch expects 100 percent more new registrations in January than in average months. ¬Mother of God! If you should then have a sweetheart at Christmas time, do not forget however bloss the Christmas gifts. Otherwise only praying helps.