COMPETITION is a wonderful thing. I love when merchandisers and service providers spend good money to impress me and convince me that I am a deserving consumer.

As it draws close to the silly season, the telecommunications giants, especially, always go a little crazy, but I am not complaining. The dynamic freeness of Digicel over the years has made a lot of people own stylish electronic equipment and display them proudly in their homes. My neighbour would hear echo in her house if it wasn’t for the ‘gift’ TV, DVD player, cassette player and MP3 player. She has ran in on every Christmas promotion all courtesy of Digi. It’s just the refrigerator she must be waiting on to make a complete set to submit to HGTV for their ‘unusual home décor competition. I’m not knocking it, I’m just reporting it as I see it. I’m pretty sure plenty of my readers can relate. Don’t try to hide the logo now, too late; you’ve been outed in the Observer. Not to mention the guerilla warfare they and the one of equal colour engage in on Knutsford Boulevard with scantily clad ladies ‘bam-rushing’ each others outside sales blitz vying for the attention of motorists and pedestrians. Last week there was a dance off right in the streets, it didn’t look too corporate, but the male commuters didn’t seem to mind at all. Whether the phone deals message went across is another story since the ‘ladies’ seemed to have abandoned their flyers in the fight for glory in the ‘wining’ arena.

Claro, not to be outdone, has burst on the scene with this new word, ‘Clarorific’ becoming an unwelcomed addition to my vocabulary. I wonder if the great inventor of words, Dr The Honourable LA Lewis had anything to do with this. It sounds like his handy work. The media ad got mixed reviews. Most people thought it was annoying, but as a marketer myself, I would consider that effective advertising; after all it got everyone’s attention and had them mumbling about it for days. Heck, even me catch myself a use the word a couple a times. Thank you Mr G Talking this and talking that; is me alone see that Mr G, sort of has become the new Richie Stephens? He is singing and endorsing everything. Way to revive your career Mr G. I ain’t hating.

LIME and the dapper Mr Dehring seem to have shelled out the most money to date, I think. On this Christmas promotion it appears that every recording artiste and their mother are signed ‘Pon the Remix’. They went all out with one big everlasting mini series on TV, just to launch the mobile TV phone. And in a very Oprah like gesture, everyone in attendance got one. A wonder how Tara Playfair never invite me. Hmm, there is even a Children’s Village in Portmore. Well I hope it pays off for all the three phone companies as players in this Christmas game to win souls, because they are not doing this just because they like us. The aim is to make millions and if they don’t, all hell is going to break loose and heads will roll. Not that I’m concerned in the least, just please continue to send on the giveaways and free road shows.

Word of advice in closing though folks: Please read the fine print carefully, most deals all spell savings and cost reduction at least until the New Year. Then you may just start seeing a bag of revised rates and added charges sliding onto your statement. How do you think they recoup from the Christmas ‘freeness’? Please go easy with the spending, toys can get destroyed, but a hug goes a long way. As my Granny used to say “take the ‘n’ from the middle of the word Santa and put it on the end, you will see who is really fuelling the spending craze and madness at this time of the year.” Try and put the Christ back in your Christmas and save a little something for 2011, but in the meantime please send me an email on your new mobile phone elvachatalot@yahoo.com or follow me on Twitter @ElvaJamaica. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend. Winter Bar-Rage tomorrow at The Chinese Benevolent Society. Come mek we party.