 " Grift of the Magi " was written by Tom Martin and directed by Matthew Nastuk as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons ( 1999 – 2000 ) . It was the first episode that Martin wrote on his own , having previously co @-@ written the season ten episode " Sunday , Cruddy Sunday " with George Meyer , Brian Scully , and The Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully . Martin got the inspiration for " Grift of the Magi " after reading a magazine article about how major companies were receiving permission to advertise their products in school students ' textbooks . He thought it " seemed like a gigantic conflict that could lead to big problems " , and therefore believed an episode based on it would be a good idea . According to DVD Talk reviewer Adam Tyner , the episode is a satire of the commercialization of Christmas . A writer for Newsday has commented that episode skewers " the annual craze for that one ' hot ' toy . " This has also been pointed out by Mike Scully , who said in 2008 that " Grift of the Magi " was produced around the time when " every year there seemed to be a hot toy . Like the <unk> , or whatever – some toy that kids just had to have that year . " In response to Scully 's comment , Martin added that every year " the media would create this gigantic rush at the toy store for various things . This [ episode ] was coming on the heels of , yeah , the <unk> . " 
