Talkback: Voice your opinion on today's Czech news

Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today's Czech news.

This week's topic: Should Czechs ban Santa Claus?

Santa Claus is strengthening his position on the Czech market. Last Christmas, he even set up shop at the Centrum Chodov shopping mall in Prague, posing for photographs with children on his lap for CZK 250 per frame.

The event was a hit among kids and many parents, but not everyone was pleased. The Creative Copywriters Club, a group of local copywriters who have decided to fight to preserve Czech Christmas traditions, organised an anti-Santa parade that ends with the jolly fat man being thrown into a dustbin. They say Santa is trespassing on the turf of Baby Jesus – the traditional purveyor of presents in Czech lands – and fear that Christmas in the Czech Republic has become too Americanised and commercial.

But is Santa Claus really the one to blame? The brand of Baby Jesus may not be as well developed, but that has not prevented him from helping boost Christmas gift sales here. Just think back to the holiday campaign of mobile phone operator Eurotel that ended with the tagline "Go, Ježíšku, go!" (Go, Jesus, go!).

Baby Jesus has even gone electronic with the launch of a website called www.milyjezisku.cz, where people can post their Christmas wish lists, which are then emailed to their friends. Traditionalists will surely cringe, but would binning Santa really do the trick?

Where do you stand?

Kristina Alda is the Monitor's managing editor. She likes writing about buildings and public space.
You can reach her at kristina@praguemonitor.com. You can read more of her stories here.