Happy Holidays tops Merry Christmas in survey

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? The verdict is in and more Americans this year are opting to wish people a happy holiday.

In its fourth annual survey, gift basket company GiftBasketsDeluxe.com analyzed its gift card messages and found a record number of 60 percent of gift baskets were sent using the term holidays as opposed to a more traditional Christmas.

The company said this was a stark reversal of the previous three-year trend when Christmas prevailed.

Only 27 percent of those surveyed used the term holidays instead of Christmas in 2006 compared to 43 percent in 2005 and 58 percent in 2004.

"For something to more than double in one year indicates that a major factor has changed," said Don Crowther, president of GiftBasketsDeluxe.com, in a statement.

"Perhaps it is because of the election season (note that the previous high was in 2004, a national election year), or perhaps it is due to the increasing sensitivity to other cultures and their holiday celebrations."

But not every one agrees.

One U.S. store, the jean and boot barn Hewlett & Dunn in Collierville, Tennessee, is offering its customers a 5 percent discount if they say "Merry Christmas."

"My grandfather believes in Christmas and did not think taking Christmas out of the stores is right," said Amber Lanius whose grandfather Jerry Gatewood has owned Hewlett & Dunn for the past 18 years and began his Christmas campaign last year.