If you’ve noticed the Grinch more prominently this silly season, you’re not alone.
While St Nick once held the title of the most Christmassy Christmas character, in recent years, a battle between red and green has spawned.
Enchanted Christmas in Newmarket is giving people the option of taking their festive photos with either Santa or the Grinch, the first time they’ve made the offering.
A spokesperson said groups of adults are preferring to book a pic with the Whoville native.
The team apparently got the idea from the United Kingdom, where this year, the Grinch stars in an ad for supermarket Asda.
In the US, Walton Goggins of White Lotus fame plays the Grinch, who comes down from Mount Crumpit with “Mindy Lou” to let the town know about Walmart’s Black Friday deals.
McDonald’s Grinch Unhappy Meal is being offered in several countries, including New Zealand, this holiday season. And a string of stores has merchandise adorning the green guy’s likeness.
SAE Creative Media Institute academic dean, Dr Lorna Piatti-Farnell, told The Front Page that she has noticed a lot more Grinch-themed items this Christmas season.
“There’s a certain appeal to the Grinch for quite a few reasons. On one hand, it represents a bit of a cheeky, perhaps counterculture view of Christmas. He’s quite the opposite of cheer in a number of ways.
“It puts up a bit of a protest against the over-the-top atmosphere of Christmas overall.
“I also think, as a figure, when we get down to it, the Grinch is a very relatable character. He’s quite lonely, struggles with isolation, with having meaningful connections at a time when the season tells us that we must have those meaningful connections...
“We live in a very hyper-technological 21st century where a lot of our lives are in the digital world. So the loss of connection is something that I think speaks quite loudly to people.
“His story is popular precisely because it tackles themes like loneliness, but also the hyper-commercialisation of Christmas... Of course, having said that, there is probably something quite ironic about the fact that the Grinch figure has become so heavily commercialised,” she said.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Nostalgia and generational appeal
- Materialism
- Christmas inclusivity
- How marketing has evolved over the years.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
