Amazon Launching War Against Christmas Counter-Attack?

[PB note: I've updated this to reflect a contact address for Amazon that has a human, or at least an Amazon, at the other end: here. Thanks, HM] At VDARE.com, we are eager students of the developing phenomenon of War on Christmas Denial. See "I Feel Like Neil Armstrong Listening To Someone Argue That NASA Faked My My Apollo Moon Landing!" and "If there's no War on Christmas, how come they deployed an Army?". And we ask: how can War On Christmas deniers explain this: VDARE.com, proprietors of the War On Christmas Competition, has this year been forced to carry a seasonal Amazon logo that includes Christmas but also periodically flashes the Christophobic slogan "Happy Holidays". (Go check the left column of our home page ---we left the logo up tonight. And buy a book or something ---we get a commission!) The reason: in 2010, Amazon seems to have launched a new offensive in the War Against Christmas. We had a tussle with Amazon earlier in the decade, as I explained in 2005:

VDARE.COM is an enthusiastic member of Amazon.com’s Associates Program. (Remember, if you begin buying through any VDARE.COM link to Amazon, we get a commission on anything you buy – at no cost to you!) When I saw that Amazon was offering “holiday graphics” to its participating websites, I wrote asking for a Christmas one. Unlike in 2002, Amazon was prepared. It answered instantly: Thanks for writing to the Amazon.com Associates Program. As we previously explained to you in December 2002, we do not have an official statement as to why we do not offer Christmas graphics in Associates Central. For your convenience, I have included our e- mail response from December 2002 below my signature. Our policy regarding holiday graphics has not changed. We appreciate your feedback, and please know that it has been passed on to the appropriate department. Please note that we will no longer respond to inquiries regarding this matter. Thanks for choosing Amazon.com Associates. Best regards, Brenda B. Amazon.com Associates Program associates@amazon.com So Amazon not only refuses to provide a Christmas graphic on request, but it also won’t say why not. Much as I admire this remarkable company, it is hard to see this arrogant attitude as anything other than conscious Christophobia.

Thereafter, however, and for several years, Amazon began offering a Christmas logo, albeit without explanation. Until this year, The Christmas logo was very slow being announced, and we had to prod Amazon several times. What finally materialized was this carousel logo, forcing us to accept the insulting "Holidays" if we wanted "Christmas". VDARE.com Executive Directrix Crystal complained and got this odd response:

From: Amazon.com Customer Service Date: Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 6:44 PM Subject: Your Amazon.com Associates Program Inquiry To: "office@" Hello Crystal, It looks as if we'll just have Holiday banners this season, rather than specific links for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, etc. I'm sorry if this doesn't suit the needs of your site...I apologize that it's not exactly what you were hoping for, but I do hope this helps. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance

The email was signed "Meghan E". So I responded:

Dear Meghan E. I am the proprietor of VDARE.com. As it happens, a generalized “Holiday banner” is absolutely not what we were “hoping for”. We run an annual competition in which readers submit the most egregious attempt to abolish Christmas. Right now, Amazon.com is a contender. What particularly fascinates me is that, after a couple of years of churlishness earlier in the decade, Amazon.com did make a Christmas logo available. All the company had to do is repeat one of them. That it has now reverted to refusing to do so appears to be an act of exceptionally recalcitrant Christophobia. I would be most grateful if you could provide a corporate explanation for this policy. We normally aim to conclude our competition by Twelfth Night, but would of course be happy to post it during the “Holiday” shopping season. Merry Christmas! pb

No reply yet. Not for the first time, I am taken about by the aggressiveness and ingenuity of the War on Christmas crowd. They not merely refuse to leave sleeping Christmas cranks lie, but have also clearly spent time plotting how to force "Happy Holidays" down our throats. It sure looks like war to me. "Meghan E" is emailable here. [PB update: apparently not any more---see top of post]