The Hobby Lobby 2020 Christmas Commercial or Why Peeping is Illegal in Most States

The Holiday Season has set in. Whether you’re the biggest Holiday fan in the world, or a real life Grinch, we all have complaints about this time of year. Bloggin Hood is right there with you. From December 14th-25^th, enjoy the 12 Days of Blogmas, with consecutive posts ranting on various Christmas and other holiday topics. Remember, you can like something and still find something to complain about, as long as you look hard enough. Today, we’ll discuss the 2020 Hobby Lobby Commercial, a true Christmas trainwreck.

Who doesn’t enjoy commercials? Why, an interruption from the show or video I’m watching is just what I needed! Oh, and it’s to sell me products I don’t want nor could I ever afford. Fantastic. Happy Holidays to us all indeed.

Wow. That opening was bitter, even for me.

Everyone knows that the holidays are the premier shopping period of the year. Like it or not, Christmas in particular is a materialistic event. Sure, giving a gift is a way to show your love and appreciation of the recipient. It also costs some cold hard cash to do so.

Companies know that the holidays means increased sales. They use every tactic in the book to drive up customer traffic. You’ll see more “sales” during this time frame than any other. I put sales in quotes because I have my doubts the consumers are really saving any money. I shouldn’t have to buy two of an item to get the third half off. However, if you see that sign, and have to buy of the item, you’re going to pick up three of them.

The holiday season helped create Black Friday. Imagine, something so pure and innocent as a holiday centered around gifts creating a day of massive deals. People lose their basic human identity when it comes to Black Friday. Some are willing to trample others to save 20% on a flat screen. Look, we all enjoy deals, but people are leaving Thanksgiving early to stand in line for Christmas gifts.

Then, they’ll bully the working staff when something is sold out.*¹ But hey, good tidings to all this Christmas, right?

Of course, I’m not above the materialism of the season. I brought more presents this year than ever before. I’d like to say I did this to spread extra Christmas cheer after a difficult year. On the other hand, I became obsessed with trying to check off everyone on my list. I made the poor delivery men and women work overtime dropping off two dozen gifts. Does that make me better than the people lining up for Black Friday eight seconds after Thanksgiving dinner?

Well, kind of. I mean, I didn’t yell at a 16 year old employee because there’s no PS5s.

Still, it’s gifts that drive the holidays. Companies gear their advertisements toward the holiday season. Some attempt to pull at your heartstrings. Others try to influence your wallet through nostalgia. A few intimidate you into buying their product or else fall to the dregs of society. Honestly, other than then snow, a Christmas tree, and a mention of December, it’s the same tactics as usual. It’s like wrapping a present. The content is the same, but it looks festive.

I think the most egregious examples are car commercials. These typically feature a married couple where one member of the couple buys the other a car. The car has a bow around it and there’s always snow on the ground. The recipient is overjoyed. Well, no shit Sherlock, somebody just gifted him or her a freaking car.

How many people are receiving cars as gifts? If the percentage is high higher than I expect (over 0.0001%?), my recipients are going to be extremely disappointed in my gifts. I mean, I brought Momma Bloggin Hood an air purifier. You can’t drive that. There’s also commercials where people buy themselves cars. That’s so relatable!

The discounts you get on cars only applies for the upfront purchase. You might get a break on the interest rate in 2020. See how that rate looks in 2022. You’re going to owe the full price of the car. However, its marketed like a great discount. You’ll have to beg for change to afford that discount in a few short years.

These commercials make you feel as though you’re missing out, or that your gift sucks if it’s not a car. See how effective bullying tactics can be? I’m trying to attach a pedal and wheels to an air purifier as we speak.

I can see how these aggressive ads can work. Likewise, I see how a nostalgic commercial could make you want to buy a product. However, the heartfelt commercials I don’t get. Sure, they’re sweet. In fact they’re the best type of commercials for the season. But how the Hell do things commercials bring sales in? They don’t even relate to the company that produces them.

Currently, there’s a very sweet ad airing constantly. In it, a young girl and an older lady are neighbors, stuck in their houses during quarantine. The two communicate via signs hung on their windows. They exchange several, but then the older woman doesn’t respond. The young girl checks every day, and begins to feel sad.

On Christmas, the girl is elated to find her friend has returned. The older woman wears a hospital bracelet and asks via a new sign “Did you get what you wished for?” The girl nods and smiles. That’s incredibly nice and sweet.

The only problem is I have no idea what company was behind it. Perhaps the company’s goal was to create goodwill with a heart warming commercial. They knocked the advertisement out of the park… except for advertising their company. Ideally, it would have been for window installation, but I don’t believe it was. That’s a shame. One of the only commercials I liked this year too.

The heartwarming trend picks up around December. Our sweet commercial example above isn’t the only one. Unfortunately, some try to pull at the heartstrings but miss. This year, I saw a long winded, confusing commercial for Hobby Lobby I’d like to discuss with you all. But first, if you haven’t seen it, here it is, for your viewing pleasure. I do not have the rights to this, so please, don’t give me credit for the ad.

Seriously, I’m not taking any heat for this disaster either.

You probably have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, I do too.

My first question may be the most important. What the hell is a Hobby Lobby? Could you tell by this commercial? My first guess was an ornament shop. My second guess? An old folks retirement center. Both of these were very incorrect, but I stand by them.

A quick Google search tells us that Hobby Lobby is an arts and crafts store. Think of it as a fake Michaels. I suppose the name itself is a hint. Truthfully, it’s not the worst name. But did you get arts and crafts from that commercial? I got a bad Hallmark Christmas Movie plot and a couple of sketchy elderly Peeping Toms.

My next issue with this commercial is that two individuals, seemingly in their mid 20s, both own property and live by themselves. Are we serious here? This is a direct, offensive shot to every 80s and 90s baby out there. Most people struggle to pay rent with a roommate. I’m supposed to believe two different people purchased what appears to be townhouses by themselves? Did they collect a large inheritance? Do we know if they had a rich uncle lived in the Hobby Lobby Retirement Center who past and left them a large fortune.

Did he pass by natural causes, or was there foul play? Are our protagonists generic perky young couple, or something far more sinister?

Damn it. I’m already back to the conspiracies. This is way too dark for Christmas Eve. Let me reel it back in.

I don’t appreciate this commercial showing people younger than me being successful. Am I just jealous? Of course I am. Why else would I complain? My roof leaks whenever it rains and I have to bled my 5,000 year old heaters three times a winter. Meanwhile, red head Katie and generic male protagonist live a life of modern luxury. I’m going to boycott Hobby Lobby for catering to the upper middle class. Screw you Hobby Lobby! I’ll just go to Michaels.

I’ve officially put more thought into their location than the writers did.

Wait, no, I still have more. The commercial acts like these neighbors don’t know each other. Are they trying to tell us people who live feet apart don’t recognize each other. That’s such a… Actually, that might be the most accurate part of this ad. I don’t think I could tell you what my neighbors look like or how many I have. Well played Hobby Lobby.

My third issue is the conclusion. From the start, we knew this commercial had to end with the young people getting together on Christmas. That’s as classic of media cliché as Peppa Pig and male shaming. The problem is the conclusion really makes no sense.

We see, what? 10 different ornaments traded over the course of the commercial. Eventually, the dude decides to knock on the girls door. When she answers, she says hi, and he says nothing and just walks inside. Then they hang the ornament on the girl’s tree. That’s it.

Neither person is going to say “Hey thanks for the ornaments,” here? I mean, the guy walks over with one, smiles, and then doesn’t even seem to mention it. The commercials sets their meeting up with neither addressing a week long ornament trade. This is mind boggling.

In real life, the ornaments would have been an issue. Once the topic came up, both of the prospective lovers would be confused. I think things would have ended right then and there, assuming the other person was insane. But, because it’s a Christmas commercial, we’ll ignore logic and see a nw happy couple. Hooray for poor writing.

Or, maybe they both thought the other was hot and wanted to hook up. That doesn’t feel like very Christmassy though.

Finally, I’d like to discuss the matchmakers. Our lovely elderly couple thought they were very crafty setting up the two young ones. And in their defense, the plan worked. However, isn’t this really creepy? I mean, the two live next to each other. This could have happened naturally.

Instead, the two planned a gambit based around ornaments. Honestly, how many 20 something year olds are trading ornaments? This seems like an odd choice for the elderly couple. Today, the youth date by sending suggestive Tiktoks and then slide into each others DMs.

Did that sound right? I have no idea how dating works anymore.

What’s even weirder is that the elderly pair just happen to be staring at the new couple when they get together. Were they peeping all week? Jesus Christ, don’t they have anything else better to do? Odds are, they’ve been staring at the two lovers for a long time. I sincerely hope both keep their blinds closed when they shower.

This was a horrific idea by the elderly couple. These two could have nothing in common and end up in a fiery break up. One would have to move before there’s property damage and policy involvement. What a tragedy Do the elderly meddlers know how hard those people had to work to own property?

Unless, of course, the elderly couple wanted this to happen. Not only are they Peeping Toms, they like stirring the pot. How depraved are these people?

We crossed into conspiracy territory again, didn’t we?

There is also a short, 30 second version of this ad that makes the elderly couple look even work. We only see the young girl and guy introduce each other. The elderly couple only appear at the end, leering over the budding young couple. There’s no ornament built up, so we have no idea who they are. Who greenlit this version? It encourages voyagers of all ages.

Perhaps I’m over thinking the commercial, but I remain confused. I still don’t know what this commercials wants to sell me. is it love? I hope it’s not love.

The plot is built on exchanging ornaments that neither party made nor purchased. And of course, we have the puppet member elderly couple, excited to watch a spurned lover burn their neighbor’s house down.

Man, aren’t the holidays fun?

Listen, I get what they were going for. With a little better execution, it might have worked. But I still have no idea what the store sells without Googling it. If your commercial requires research, it’s not good.

Also, if your commercial seems like a crime was committed, maybe re-shoot it.

1. *Anyone who bullies the staff working on a Black Friday deserves empty Christmas boxes for life. Don’t even give them coal Santa. Let them know they’re so vile, they don’t even deserve that.