RICHFIELD, Minn. - A scanned version of the Best Buy Black Friday ad on BestBuy.com wishes Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha, which falls on the extended Thanksgiving weekend.
Since the ad was posted, a message board on BestBuy.com has filled up with plenty of responses. Tuesday morning, a discussion of the
ad on BestBuy.com had more than 100 responses. Some of those comments were supportive of the greeting and some called for a boycott of the retailer, including boldly racist remarks.
Here's a look at some of the posts on the
BestBuy.com message board :
I worked part time at Best Buy two years ago and am shocked by this! The sad thing is that I think it will cost Best Buy a lot of business, and some MAJOR bad publicity which will hurt the employees who had nothing to do with the decision. What in the heck were you thinking Best Buy?????
-christmas_shopr
Happy Eid Al-Adha but no Merry Christmas? I assume your next advertisements will say Merry Christmas. Otherwise, I will no longer shop at Best Buy. I will shop at those businesses which support Christmas.
-joclaire
Thank you Best Buy for the Eid Greetings!! I plan to spend more money at BB. Thank you for being inclusive of various cultures.
-Peacepro123
Best Buy community supervisor Elizabeth responded to the comments with the
following statement :
"Thanks for sharing your point of view regarding our recent ad, which included a wish for a “Happy Eid al-Adha”.
Best Buy’s customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations. We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions.
We do use the word “holiday” in some of our advertising because it is meant to be inclusive to everyone. However, just as we have in the past, we will also reference specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in our weekly ads, store signage and other advertising vehicles.
We encourage our employees to interact with customers naturally and feel free to wish them a Merry Christmas if they are celebrating that holiday.
Thanks again for your feedback."
Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is a Muslim holiday lasting three days. The feast is based on Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son to display his obedience to God. According to the Koran, a voice from heaven stopped Ibrahim, allowing him to sacrifice a ram instead.
In the spirit of sacrifice, families observing Eid al-Adha eat about a third of their meal, sharing the rest with family and friends and donating some to the poor.
JMC Ministries Response
We cannot say Merry Christmas but we can wish a Happy Eid al-Adha. Fellow Christians we need to rise up and take a stand against this and take back Thanksgiving, Christmas and even Easter, and remember why it is we celebrate them in the first place. It isn't about Turkey and Black Friday and sales why we celebrate Thanksgiving, but to give thanks to God for supplying our needs and being around friends and family to share this time. Christmas is not about Santa Claus and getting presents or even a little red nosed reindeer. It is about the birth of Christ. Without the birth of Jesus there would be no Christmas to ever celebrate. We must get back to our roots and stand firm unshaken in them and not be deceived by all the world is trying to make these holidays out to be.
