Best Buh-Bye?

Well, it looks like Best Buy has stepped in it this holiday season. In a sales flyer they sent out they chose to give a special mention to the Islamic holiday of Eid al-adha, instead of the more traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving.

In light of recent events like the Ft. Hood massacre and the decisions to bring the 9/11 plotters to this country for trial you would have thought the braintrust at the corporate headquarters might have been just a little more sensitive. I have no doubt they have some Harvard Business School grads up there, you know like the ones in charge of a lot of financial institutions.



Eid al-Adha commemorates the end of the Hajj, that annual rite of passage whereby Muslims travel to Mecca, march around a stone, and try not to get trampled to death. It is also supposed to mark the story in their Koran, shamelessly lifted from the Christian Bible about Abraham, who was asked to sacrifice his son Issac as a test of his faith.

The Muslims make Abraham Ibrahim and Issac becomes Ismael, but the story stays the same.

There is no doubt the ACLU would come down on them with both feet and a dozen class action lawsuits if they tried to mention the Biblical story rather then the Islamic version.

You do have to wonder about their decision-making ability though in a time when more and more Americans are squeezing every last drop out of each dollar.

I think Best Buy would be better served by working on their customer service and support instead of trying to make some sort of politically correct statement in their sales flyers.