People everywhere are no doubt in a fix as to what to get their mothers for Mother's Day, and the guys in marketing don't seem to be helping.

I personally have a hard time believing that anyone would get their mother, say, a new cell phone for Mother's Day. The cell phone companies are constantly advertising new pink, frilly cell phones in order to make them seem as ubiquitous as that Elizabeth Arden compact you gave your mother last year. But the whole premise of gifting, of all things, a cell phone seems just ludicrous. Putting a pink bow on a year's worth of cell phone bills doesn't make them seem any more desirable.

Car dealers have also boasted of all the great deals you can get when you buy your mother that car she's always wanted. Seriously. To anyone who's considering getting their mother a car or two for Mother's Day, make sure to put those gas receipts in a really nice envelope.

And then there are gifts that are simply absurd no matter what kind of gift-giving convictions you have. Gifts.com includes as one of their top gifts a "pretty eyeglass case," in the event that your mother forgot about her deteriorating vision.

If you want my opinion, I think a thoughtful card is always a winner. Especially if it's in a nice envelope.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.