BTW, I do have some thoughts on this subject, and after reading every post in this thread, can respond to pretty much everything. Also, expect to see a few hundred posts disappear.
To those who claim that most people are upset that BB chose to acknowledge Muslims and not Christians: You're partially right. About a third express this. However, another third actually are upset that BB is celebrating a Muslim holiday, regardless of what their attitude towards Xmas is. These would be the bigots who actually hate Islam. The last third did not express a view either way. They just simply said they will not shop at BB, without specifying why. They could fall in either group.
To those who use incidents, such as Ft. Hood, involving "Muslims" as reason that BB should not have acknowledged Muslims: I can prove this logic false very simply. Were I to go postal on a US military base in the name of Christianity/Judaism, the celebrations of Xmas/Hanukkah would not at all be dampened. No would one would say that "it's not the right time to acknowledge the involved religion." Nope, people would go on with their holiday shopping as if nothing had ever happened.
To those who claim the T-giving and Xmas greetings were nothing but sales slogans: It depends on your point of view. I've only seen three or four people in this entire thread express this view. However, consider if the sales slogan "Happy Eid Al-Adha with a Sony PS3!" had been used in the BF ad. Do you think all those opposed to BB's actions would've said "oh, it's alright, it's just a sales slogan, not a greeting?" Please, answer this honestly.
To those who claim BB only did any of this for the money: Of course any business is primarily concerned with profits. However, it's easy to see that there was sincere greetings here, and this is why: If BB was simply going for maximum profits, they would've put Eid and Xmas in the same ad, knowing very well that there would be a backlash to doing them separately. That would've left only those offended because of bigotry. Everyone else would see that BB is acknowledging Muslims and Christians.
Instead, they chose to stick to the "celebrate them as they fall" policy, which obviously would create controversy, and hurt profits. This also has the advantage of weeding out the unloyal customers, and leaving those who truly do care whether BB is all-inclusive or not. And, it shows that BB is not afraid to tick off some people in order to make an oft-persecuted minority feel welcome. I believe this will prove beneficial long-term.
In the end, no one can pass judgment on this marketing move before seeing BB's quarter earnings. Even if they are dinged, I'm sure next year will be up as people forget why they were boycotting and welcome each one of BB's holiday greetings. In addition, if this catches on throughout the corporate world, and Eid becomes as ubiquitous as Hanukkah, Muslims everywhere are going to be quite happy that BB increased national awareness of their religion, and by extension, softened hard feelings. Who knows, this may even make a dent in the Muslim militant movement if the US really welcomes Muslims into the fold.
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