Oct. 26, 2015
DeKeveion Glaspie
[email protected]
Stop the madness!
What happened to a time when we looked forward to the holidays without spending three months preparing for them?
When stores set up displays months in advance, it brings the Grinch out in me. We might as well make one big holiday out of store’s holiday exhibits.
It’s good to be prepared, but businesses are abusing the holiday spirit.
In September, I went to Wal-Mart to grocery shop. In one aisle there were Christmas ornaments, enough to fill at least 10 Christmas trees. It’s too early to even think about Christmas. Stores need to think about the current holiday, not a holiday two months in advance.
Stores selling holiday decorations early is clearly a marketing strategy. This gives corporations time to sell more products, earning more money overall.
I see it as a mind game.
They are trying to tell customers there’s no time to plan, and they need to start preparing now up until the day of the holiday. In reality, it’s not that hard to prepare for the holidays.
We need to live in the present, not the future.
According to Target, it’s 2016. We are constantly thinking about what’s ahead. By the time we get to the actual holiday, we are drained and do not get to fully enjoy it.
Along with the early displays comes holiday music. Nothing is wrong with a little holiday cheer, but if stores start playing Christmas music in early November, we are going to have a problem.
I am not a Grinch when it comes to getting into the holiday spirit, but I do not enjoy knowing all the words to “Jingle Bells” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Dec. 1. Holidays can be great when it is disbursed in the right amount of dosages.
Let’s schedule the holiday (Christmas and Thanksgiving) displays and decorations when it actually starts to become cold. The fall should be for pumpkin spice lattes and pie. Things that remind us of Thanksgiving, not Christmas. Save that for the winter time.
Another negative outcome of pushing the holidays too early is a domino effect.
When stores put holiday decorations and displays out early, other corporations do the same with, say, television or clothing.
Next thing you know they will start bringing out the ugly Christmas sweaters and every holiday will have their own version of “12 Days of Christmas.” Soon there will be the “14 Days of Valentine’s Day” or a “17 Days of St. Patrick’s Day.”
Stop the madness of premature holiday displays, and go back to that part of your childhood when there was still anticipation.