Radio Shack Censors ‘Christmas,’ AFA Calls for Boycott

Looking for the Christmas spirit this shopping season? It isn’t found at Radio Shack. They seem more like Ebenezer Scrooge, says the American Family Association (AFA)—because Radio Shack has eliminated the words that portray the reason for the season and have degraded Christmas in their stores by making the celebration of Christ’s birth a generic, bland and unholy impostor of the true meaning of Christmas.

AFA is calling for a limited one-month boycott of the Radio Shack chain over the company’s censorship of the word Christmas.

For years, Radio Shack has refused to use the word Christmas on its website or in television commercials, newspaper ads and in-store promotions, despite tens of thousands of consumer requests to recognize Christmas and in spite of repeated requests from AFA to do the same.

“Radio Shack is censoring the word Christmas, pure and simple,” says AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Yet the company wants all the people who celebrate Christmas to do their shopping at its stores. Until Radio Shack proves it recognizes Christmas by using it in their newspaper, radio and television advertising or in-store signage, American Family Association will continue to promote this boycott.”

Instead, at Radio Shack, consumers will find “holiday” deals, “holiday” kickoff, “holiday” cash and a “holiday” gift guide, but they won’t find “Christmas” anywhere.

“AFA has successfully influenced almost all of the nation’s largest retailers to embrace the use of Christmas in their advertising,” Wildmon continues, “but at Radio Shack, it’s ‘Bah, Humbug!’”

Shoppers can take action to encourage Radio Shack to use Christmas in its advertising and signage through several steps:

• Sign: Sign the Boycott Radio Shack pledge. AFA will regularly update Radio Shack on how many people have signed the pledge.
• Call: Follow up your signature with a phone call to the Radio Shack corporate office at (817) 415-3011, option 0. Let them know you are serious about taking your business elsewhere.
• Post: On Facebook, leave a comment on Radio Shack’s Facebook page for an immediate impact that will get their attention.
• Contact: Connect with the local Radio Shack in your area, and politely let the manager know you won’t be shopping there this Christmas season. Ask the manager to pass your comments along to the corporate office.

American Family Association recently released its 2013 list of Naughty or Nice retailers, letting shoppers know which are “for Christmas” and which are “against Christmas.” AFA notes nearly 60 stores that either tell shoppers to have a “Merry Christmas,” use “Christmas” on a regular basis or recognize Christmas in some other way. The list also calls out 11 retailers that may use “Christmas” sparingly in a single or unique product description but that, as a company, does not recognize it.