Hoping the soft economy might spare you of an early onslaught of ads featuring Santa slinging flat-panel TVs and elves sporting smart phones? No such luck, according to an alarming report this morning in the Wall Street Journal.

Adding to the likes of advertised sales this past weekend on TVs and Blu-ray players, the report further foretells an early start to visions of GPS-grasping snowmen and frost-dusted digital cameras. And advertising may be more ubiquitous, too; the report also suggests ad spending this holidays will exceed the levels of 2008.

It quotes a Kmart spokesman, for example, as saying that "last year the recession hit [the shopper] right between the eyes and she found herself scrambling. This is the year she said, 'I will do things differently,' so she is looking for deals early."

The report's descriptions of some planned electronics-based ad campaigns are as shiver-inducing as an early frost. Best Buy, we tremble to learn, will "use its blue-shirted store employees as Christmas carolers in TV ads." Sears will this week––yes, alas, this week––begin airing an ad with "Santa and his reindeer shopping in Sears and using the Sears Research Center to find the best prices on big-screen TVs." (For an alternative, try using our Ratings of electronics retailers and the Compare Prices feature in our Ratings of LCD and plasma TVs; all are available to subscribers.)

There will be some nods to the economy, mind you. An OfficeMax spokesman, saying "frugal is the new cool," predicts that "consumers may see as many Ebenezer Scrooges in ads this year as they see Santa Clauses."

Some Scrooges will be at home, too, humbugging as they scramble to switch channels before they're forced to watch another gear-laden sled soar through a snowy sky. ––Paul Reynolds.