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Thanksgiving is actually supposed to be about being grateful at harvest-time for what we *do* have, and how we can share that with our fellow humans. After all, it was President Lincoln who instated Thanksgiving during the dark days of The Civil War as a balm to the nation's ills and a reminder of what was good and how we could look to those less fortunate as we recognized our good fortune.
The holiday is expressed in many ways, from meals provided by volunteers to the needy to people trying to fly across the country in terrible weather to spend three uncomfortable days with extended family and then fly back, more exhausted than when we left. As part of the crass commercialism that *is* American freetime, of course there's also a tradition of watching football (and therefore ads) and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade from New York City (and therefore ads).