On-line pharmacy reverses decision to use ‘holiday’

US, Orlando, FL (Liberty Counsel): Just one day after coming under a firestorm for selling ‘holiday’ gifts and providing ‘holiday’ shipping for gifts to arrive by December 25, Walgreens has worked to regain its ‘nice’ status on Liberty Counsel’s ‘Naughty or Nice List’.

The list catalogues more than 50 national retailers which either censor (‘naughty’) or recognise (‘nice’) Christmas.

Consumers use the list as a shopping guide for where they want to invest their hard-earned money. The list is compiled from information gathered by individual consumers and is updated whenever new information is received.

Tiffany Washington, a spokesperson for Walgreens, an American online pharmacy, stated, “During the month of December, there will be greater use of ‘Christmas’ in our store and online. We completely agree that while others celebrate different holidays, we should use the word ‘Christmas’ to describe items we are selling for Christmas decorations and gifts. As Christmas draws closer, there will be plenty of messages in our store and online that say ‘Merry Christmas.’”

In addition, Liberty Counsel has received a report of Christmas music being played in Indiana Walgreens stores in response to a directive from its headquarters.

The Counsel has now moved Walgreens back to the ‘Nice’ list. The online store joins CVS Pharmacy, which for the first time since 2007 has embraced Christmas with a ‘Christmas Central’ portion of its website that is dedicated to Christmas gifts, shipping and savings.

Liberty Counsel will continue to monitor these and other stores. To see what other stores have made the list, visit www.LC.org

Mathew D. Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said he was pleased with Walgreens for joining the growing number of stores that recognise Christmas.

“We will be monitoring stores and updating our ‘Naughty and Nice List’ to help consumers support stores that support Christmas. Christmas isn’t a dirty word. No other federal holiday is blacklisted to the extent that Christmas is by some retailers. The ‘Naughty & Nice’ List allows consumers to patronise retailers that acknowledge Christmas. This list has caused many retailers to reverse course and acknowledge Christmas,” said Mr Staver.

Among the other “naughty to nice success stories” are Best Buy, Disney, CVS, Target, Macy’s, Martha Stewart and Kohl’s, all of which have brought back references to Christmas, according to the Liberty Counsel, which advocates for religious freedom protections.

Meanwhile, Gap, Staples, J.Crew, American Eagle and others remain on the naughty side, sticking with references to merry, sparkly, bright, wishful, happy, wintery holidays, but not Christmas. n ­

Liberty Counsel was the first organisation to launch the ‘Naughty & Nice’ list a number of years ago and since then other organisations have promoted similar programmes. The results have been amazing. Major retailers like Wal-Mart moved from the ‘naughty’ side of the list to the ‘nice’ side. There was a time when Wal-Mart sold only ‘Holiday Trees,’ not Christmas Trees and when Wal-Mart employees were forbidden from returning the greeting ‘Merry Christmas’ to customers who initiated the greeting. But Wal-Mart, like many other retailers, has changed and now openly acknowledges Christmas.