...Truely "smart" people don't get into pety arguments on NS.
And i'll agree with the statement made earlier.  At the age of 17 you are finally seeing passed a lot of the "magic" of the golden days of christmas, or so you call them.  I mean dude when i was 9 years old way back in 1995, holy shit did i want a  sega genesis.  Oh and when I opened the box that morning and found it, i almost shit a brick.  I was the happiest kid east of the mississippi.  I had no idea how the hell santa's elves had a degree in electrical and computer engineering, but that SEGA genesis was all mine.
You gotta remember that as you get older that your outward appearance means much more to you.  Girls don't want to be taken out on a date wearing something from K-mart.  They want to wear something that shows high status and class.  And guys sure as hell don't want to be called a "scrub" by a bunch of girls.  Brands reflect an image that you want to portray.
Did you ever wonder why the models on the posters at Abercrombie are hardly wearing any of their clothes?  Doesn't really make sense huh.  Abercrombie does not sell clothes, they sell "casual luxury" (as their slogan states).  They represent something that is fun, sexy, and expensive.  And one way for a consumer to achieve this status is through their products.  There is a reason they stay in business selling t-shirts for $25.
Maybe this flow diagram will help clarify the life stages and how christmas affects them:
Magic -> Competition -> Partial Realization -> Full Realization -> "HolyFuckMyKidWantsAPS3" -> Magic