Christmas Gift to Shoppers: “Naughty & Nice” List

Retailers’ Choice: Honor Christmas or Censor Christmas

Liberty Counsel, affiliated with Liberty University School of Law, annually publishes a “Naughty and Nice” list of over 50 national retailers who censor or recognize Christmas. The information is gathered by consumers and is updated as new data is received. Liberty’s goal for the list is “to give the gift of Christmas back to those retailers who support it.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mathew D. Staver said, “Christmas isn’t a dirty word. No other federal holiday is blacklisted to the extent that Christmas is by some retailers.” Since the list began in 1995, many retailers have reversed course about Christmas. A good example:

Walgreens, November 22, 2011. If you had read the November 22nd Liberty Counsel press release entitled, “CVS and Walgreens Switched Sides on the “Naughty & Nice List,” you might have decided to boycott Walgreens during Christmas. Here‟s the story. For the first time since 2007, CVS Pharmacy has embraced Christmas with a “Christmas Central” portion of its web site. In contrast, Walgreens – on the “Nice” side last year – moved to the “Naughty” side this year, for not recognizing Christmas Day or Christmas Season as Christmas. Until …

Walgreens, November 23, 2011. The day after its previous press release, Liberty Counsel published a follow-up story entitled, “Walgreens Retracts Its Description of Christmas Decorations as “Holiday” Ones.” Then, explained the Walgreens turn-around:

“Just one day after coming under a firestorm for selling “holiday” gifts and providing “holiday” shipping for gifts to arrive by December 25th, Walgreens has worked to regain their “nice” status. …[A] spokesperson for Walgreens states, “During the month of December, there will be greater use of “Christmas” in our store and online. We should use the word “Christmas” to describe … Christmas decorations and gifts … there will be plenty of messages in our store and online that say “Merry Christmas.””

But there’s more. Liberty Counsel received a report that Christmas music was being played in Indiana Walgreens stores in response to a directive from headquarters. Mr. Staver commented: “I am pleased with Walgreens for joining the growing number of stores that recognize Christmas. We will be monitoring stores and updating our “Naughty and Nice List” to help consumers support stores that support Christmas.”

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