• The New York Times, Tuesday, November 7, 2006 11 AM

America's marketers and retailers are turning in earnest toward the holiday season-and humor figures to be a big part of it. "The tone of the season will be upbeat, light-hearted and very positive," says Pete Woods, vice president for advertising at Lowe's, which is running a campaign centered on humorous interactions between employees and customers. In one commercial, a Lowe's worker figures out what the customer wants by deciphering her pantomimed gestures for garlands and ornament hooks.

Meanwhile, a campaign for Virgin Mobile USA cellphones urges its target audience to have "a bleepin' awesome holiday season. And a spot for Garmin's G.P.S. navigational devices parodies the holiday standard "Carol of the Bells" and shows Santa Claus getting a parking ticket outside a mall.

The shift in holiday ad approaches reflects a change in how consumers celebrate the season. Schmalty sentimentality is out.

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