This one’s a bit personal…
Seeing as how we’ve covered two spots using the poem commonly referred to as “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” in just the past two days, we couldn’t be happier that someone created a Tumblr called “Stop Using “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas.” We get that it’s something of a quintessential Christmas story, but it’s simply been done to death, and it’s not like there’s a shortage of Christmas material to borrow from.
The Tumblr produces a convincing list of the poem’s overuse, featuring the two we’ve covered in the past couple days and a long list of other ads using the poem, both old and new. Maybe a visual record of the poem’s overuse will help convince agencies to finally retire the practice. Whether or not they successfully curb the use of the poem, we applaud “Stop Using “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” for their much-needed public service. If you come across an ad using the ubiquitous poem, you can join the cause by uploading it to the site. Or you can just peruse their archive of “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” spots.
Since the site doesn’t offer up alternatives to the over-used poem, we thought maybe we could ask our readers what they’d like to see used in its place. Personally, if we must borrow from the classics, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more homages to O. Henry’s “Gift of the Magi.” Please share your ideas in the comments section. If the proper creatives see it, you just might spare us all another “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” commercial.