A United Parcel Service logo is displayed on a delivery truck in San Francisco, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2014. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

UPS Deletes Christmas ‘Shredding’ Message After Swift Backlash

UPS quickly deleted a tweet, a message posted on the Twitter social media website, after swift backlash to the content of the message.

“If your child addresses a letter to the North Pole, you can leave it with us. We do shredding,” the message said.

UPS soon deleted the tweet, but not before a number of Twitter users reacted to the sentiment.

“Dear UPS this is not a good look. Hello FedEx,” wrote one user.

“Well with the UPS tweet they deleted I am closing my UPS account,” another said. “Shredding one dream at a time,” another said.

“Can I drop off all his crafts, cards to me, school photos, and drawings too? I hate all these precious memories. Thanks, UPS Store!” said another.

The store has not apologized for the tweet or addressed any of the criticism through the Twitter account.

A spokesperson told ABC that the tweet was meant to highlight the shipping center’s shredding services, and initially was taken in good humor, according to the outlet.

The brand has been working on cultivating a fun personality on social media for the past year, public relations manager Staci Reidinger told the Washington Post.

The brand was “trying to find a way to get you looking and paying attention to our brand,” she said. The tweet was emphasizing shredding, trying to remind customers that UPS provides the service at stores.

“We were trying to be fun, put something out there,” she said. “We were, like, maybe this isn’t in alignment of where we were going to go with our holiday personality and posts.”

Did the Grinch hack UPS' twitter? 😠 pic.twitter.com/HN5OKZT70u — TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 17, 2018

Christmas Decorations and Spending

Nine in ten Americans and 95 percent of Christians celebrate Christmas, according to a Pew Research Survey.

Many of them celebrate Christmas by decorating their homes, both inside and outside.

A key part of the decorations? A Christmas tree. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, there are approximately 25 to 30 million real Christmas trees sold in the United States every year. The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.

This year, consumers said they were planning to spend an average of $1,007.24 during the winter holiday season, with $215.04 of that planned for food, decorations, flowers, and greeting cards, according to the National Retail Foundation.

Adults told Gallup that they planned to spend an average of $885 on Christmas gifts in 2018, the highest holiday spending projection since the 2007 to 2009 recession. That included 33 percent of respondents who said they planned to spend at least $1,000 on Christmas gifts.

A 2017 survey from the Lincoln Financial Group found that millennials typically spend more on the holidays versus other age groups, at an average of $1,400. That was $500 more than Boomers and Gen Xers.

Experts said people should save up throughout the year if planning to spend big for the holidays, and plan ahead and make a budget.

“It’s tempting to splurge at this time of year, but it’s important to ensure that holiday spending doesn’t derail your finances,” said Jamie Ohl, president at Lincoln Financial Group, in a statement. “As with all financial matters, planning is a good way to stay on track, even when you’re tempted by sales and impulse buys.”

From NTD News