I was at the mall when a poster caught my eye.
If you can't read through the glare this poster says, "Celebrate Thanksgiving at SM Supermalls on November 23." Then there's some advertisements for Thanksgiving activities like getting a free Vanilla Sundae Cone from McDonalds. There's also a Thank You Wall where you can post photos and messages, an invitation to join a National Thank You Day party on Facebook, and lastly the only appropriate Thanksgiving activity which is a Thanksgiving Mass.
I say the Mass is the only appropriate activity because while it's fairly obvious that this is simply aping and bastardising American culture, Thanksgiving is, or used to be, a very significant religious holiday in the USA. At one time it was a day to thank the Lord for all his blessings as the pilgrims did in 1623 at Plymouth Plantation. Currently it's an excuse for watching football and being a glutton.
It's always funny how Filipinos will say they don't need the West and it's money or it's mindset and values and yet they continually take from Western culture, particularly American culture. This country is really like a twilight zone America. Take Christmas for example. Despite being a tropical paradise you will find Santa Claus and reindeer and snowmen and Christmas trees all over the place. Why? Because they are aping American culture. The only difference, the biggest difference, is that they do it for four months starting in September. Take a look at this countdown clock at the mall.
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Looking at that poster again it's the bottom panel regarding the National Thank You Day which really caught may attention. What is that?
Searching leads to the following information. On October 20th, 2007 Toblerone, yes the chocolate maker, began a promotion for the first ever National Thank You Day.
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| http://web.archive.org/web/20071011001740/http://thankyoudayphilippines.com |
That screenshot is hardly legible so I will copy and past the text below:
Do you want to know how your favorite bands say thanks? Sweet? Serious? Groovy? Funky? Heartfelt? Wonder no more!
Toblerone has gathered 6 of your favorite artists: Salindiwa, True Faith, Cynthia Alexander, Stone Free, Mozzie, and Chang of Reggae Mistress!
Revealing their Thank You secrets in a special Thank You Commemorative Album
Download their songs free only here at thankyoudayphilippines.com!
You can also catch them on October 20 at the SM Mall of Asia as we celebrate National Thank You Day with a rockin' concert!
And find out who your favorite stars want to thank when we hold the 1st National Thank You Day Awards!
An exclusive from Toblerone and thankyoudayphilippines.com
Who would you rather thank...
The very first ever National Thank You Day in the Philippines was a marketing promotion from Toblerone! How do you like that! And they promoted this thing so heavily that just a few years later a bill was introduced in Congress by Cynthia Villar to establish October 20th as National Thank You Day.
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| http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/142469/bill-seeks-to-establish-national-thank-you-day/story/ |
I do not think this bill passed. I cant find any information that it did. Interestingly there is another House Bill 5466 listed three years later in 2012 and it has nothing to do with establishing a National Thank You Day. Are bills allowed to have the same number?
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| https://www.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=15&q=HBN-5466 |
Given that the Philippines was an American colony for a few decades it's not surprising at all that Filipinos would imitate American culture more than any other culture. In fact the Philippines did celebrate Thanksgiving Day as same as the Americans from the time they became a colony until 1986. What happened in 1986 to stop the celebration of Thanksgiving Day?
Upon the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, Thanksgiving Day was moved to September 21, to fall on the date of Proclamation No. 1081, s. 1972, which proclaimed a state of martial law. (Note: Martial law was actually declared on September 23, 1972). Thus, Thanksgiving became associated with Martial Law. After the 1986 EDSA Revolution and the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the Thanksgiving Day tradition in the Philippines ceased.
http://malacanang.gov.ph/74644-thanksgiving-in-the-philippines/
Only in the Philippines would a day of giving thanks end up associated with a bloody dictatorship!
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