This year the Daily Telegraph has decided not to produce its annual Christmas cards by Matt. I complained when I heard this, because we usually send them and I feel that it must always be a pleasure for the recipients to get a joke from the world’s greatest pocket cartoonist. The reason is interesting, though. Apparently Christmas cards from businesses are now considered ‘old-fashioned’. I bridled at this at first. To my shame, the phrase ‘political correctness gone mad’ may even have floated into my head. On reflection, though, I think it may be a good thing. There is something dispiriting about a big business sending out Christmas cards. It cannot genuinely know its customers in the way that a local butcher or restaurant might, so its message is likely to be rather pro forma and impersonal. The computer has made it possible to send out far more cards (I read somewhere that George Bush posts two million) but this has the unintended consequence of making everyone suddenly feel that the whole thing is ridiculous.
Charles Moore
The Spectator’s Notes | 17 December 2005
There is something dispiriting about a big business sending out Christmas cards
issue 17 December 2005
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