Now that ain't right!

Could it be that another cherished Christmas tradition is going down the tubes? (Or down the hatch?)

Bad enough that we have an assault on Christmas and Christianity in general from the politically correct crowd, and fanatic left wingers, but now we have an assault on leaving Santa some milk and Cookies from that venerable Canadian institution "Labatt Breweries!"

They want you to leave Santa a BEER!

Yes, beer is considered by some to be Canada's national drink, but give me a break folks........ for Santa?

On Christmas eve?

Oh, I know they are advertising "alcohol free" beer, but just the same, Santa is for little kids and leaving him a beer sends a completely wrong message!

"I don't think that's quite appropriate," said Kathleen Clifford, 65, who saw the ad at a Mac's at Gerrard and Mutual St's. yesterday.

"Children see that and they think we'd better leave beer for Santa instead of cookies and milk." she said. "I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I don't approve of it. "Maybe I'm an old fuddy-duddy."

But Labatt said the message is to remind people not to drink and drive.

"It's reminding people, especially during this holiday season, when people are going out to celebrate, not to drink and drive," said Catherine Pringle, corporate affairs manager of Labatt Breweries of Canada. "Some of the posters direct people to makingaplan.ca, which is a website to plan ahead and reinforcing people not to drink and drive," she said.

Mothers Against Drinking and Driving said it has no problem with it because it's alcohol-free beer -- even though it actually contains "0.5% or less."

"This is not drinking and driving. It's a Labatt issue and whatever their philosophy is behind the ad is certainly up to them," said MADD Canada president Margaret Miller.

But Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University said the ad breaks the "golden rule" to never associate drinking with driving in a sales pitch.

"They're positioning that you can have a beer and you're still safe to drive, but they can't control how many of those 0.5% beers people consume," Middleton said.

"They thought being this lower alcohol would get them off the hook, but I don't think it does. This is a silly ad and if they've got a decent product, it should be powerful enough."

So, the long ans short of it?

Stick with the milk and cookies............... kids!


Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know......!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E! and H E R E! And as a paperback H E R E ! and H E R E !