Fuck Jewelry Ads

"Every kiss begins with Kay"
Really? Every kiss? Come the fuck on.
"He went to Jared!"
Ah, so he had little imagination, small resources and wanted to get his loved one something cheap and cookie-cutter. Got it.

I know it's Christmas and jewelry is big. But I despise all these ads for diamonds and shit. One has a pendant with multiple diamonds, all getting bigger so you can "show how much your love grows over time". OK, so if I give Trish a pendant that doesn't require me to add a diamond every year or two, then my love isn't growing?

The blatant commercialism of jewelry and, specifically, the media blitz to convince us that "diamonds=love" really pisses me off. Can't some other gift mean love? A nice sweat shirt means that I hate my fiance? How about a sterling silver bracelet? It's jewelry, right? Whoops, it doesn't have diamonds in it, I must not love her. Fuck that.

I'm not even going to get into a political rant about how the people who bring you those wonderful diamonds are basically slaves, abused and overworked, not getting any of the profit for their work. That's why when I bought Trish's engagement ring, I purchased a diamond from Canada, not Africa. Go see Blood Diamond.

The other thing I can't stand is the whole "buy something incredible for this special day". Sure, Xmas is special. So is Thanksgiving, but you don't buy people Thanksgiving Day gifts. And lots of people buy expensive gifts (jewelry) and shit for Xmas. Many even propose. Propose on Xmas? Nice job there, muffin-brain, now your proposal day is super special. I guess you won't forget it, but why not make a previously ordinary day special? Why does it take a "special" day for you to do something special for your loved one? Do you only buy her flowers when you've done something crappy? Why not buy her flowers because it's Wednesday. And Valentine's Day? If you need a reminder to be romantic "one day out of the year" then throw in the towel now.

So, no, I won't be buying any jewelry from any of the big "chain" jewelry stores. Not for Xmas, not ever. Their ramant, unabashed commercialism and mass-marketing to create an love icon has prompted me to declare a boycott on their business. Call it my "price" for their bullshit.