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What's wrong with Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree? Worn-out, scraggy look is a 'metaphor for 2020'

A spokesperson for the Rockefeller Center said: 'The tree is fully wrapped, branch by branch, for a couple of weeks before it is cut and driven into the city on a flatbed truck'

The Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree, a timeless Holiday charm, has arrived and following the true 2020 storyline, it doesn’t quite look like a happy Christmas tree that it is known for.

As the pictures and clips of the 75-foot-tall tree from Oneonta, NY, getting settled in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza surfaced, social media users found that the tree looked worn out and scraggy. Twitter users asked is this the tree taken from a Charlie Brown movie plot, referring to ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’. YouTuber KEEMSTAR tweeted, “2020 Rockefeller Center christmas Tree be looking like Charlie Brown! LMFAO.”

While pianist Chris Ryan believes, “In true 2020 form, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree looks like it tried to cut its own hair,” and added: “Someone gave up on family dinner at 8 pm and picked up McDonald’s.”

The tree, donated by Al Dick of Daddy Al’s General Store in Oneonta, has also come out as a metaphor for 2020. A tweet read, “This year's Rockefeller Christmas tree, a metaphor for 2020.” Another user said, “Rockefeller Center Christmas tree looking like the apocalypse we’re living in,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza is very 2020,” commented one. Another user mused, “The Rockefeller Christmas tree, just like the rest of us, really been through things in 2020.” “Just about what I’d expect out of the 2020 Rockefeller Christmas Tree.”

Podcaster Lauren Migaki said, “I feel bad for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree or How I Learned That I’m Charlie Brown After All and other Christmas tales.”

But the Rockefeller Center believes that everything is absolutely fine with the tree as it quipped, “Wow, you all must look great right after a two-day drive, huh? Just wait until I get my lights on! See you on December 2!”

A spokesperson for the Rockefeller Center explained to Today why it might look a little bit more worn out this year. "The tree is fully wrapped, branch by branch, for a couple of weeks before it is cut and driven into the city on a flatbed truck," she said adding: "The journey took two days this year.” "When it’s unwrapped and first put up, the branches don’t immediately all snap back into place, and those are the photos you’re seeing. It takes a while before it fully settles."

The Rockefeller Christmas tree goes way back as an annual source of joy. It got its "a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike" in 1933 while the tree has been decorated since 1931 during the Great Depression era when workers decorated a smaller 20 foot (6.1m) balsam fir with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans".