Merry Christmas from Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is not shying away from Christmas this year. Other retailers, perhaps most, refer to December as the "Holiday Season" or even, yikes, the "Shopping Season." Not Wal-Mart, as this USA Today article explains.

An excerpt:

• A TV ad trumpeting Christmas will air for the first time next week. Wal-Mart also will air TV ads along with the Salvation Army mentioning Christmas.

• The name of the department with Christmas decorating needs will change from The Holiday Shop, which it was for the past several years, to The Christmas Shop.

• Store signs will count down the days until Christmas, and Christmas carols will be piped throughout the season.

• About 60% more merchandise will be labeled "Christmas" rather than "holiday" this year over last.

Salvation Army bell-ringers will be welcomed at Wal-Mart. Target and a lot of other stores chase them away.

My late father, Big Marathon Pundit, was a professional fund raiser and was aware that many charitable organizations would "allow" much of their donated funds go to "overhead." He told me that one sure bet that your money was going to a good cause was if it went to the Salvation Army--they have very low overhead--most of their donations end up in the hands of those who need help.

Note: With the exception of the last paragraph, information for this post came from my good friend Marshall Manson at Edelman.

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart Retail Target business news marketing Christmas Salvation Army