Well, well. The most wonderful time of the year is upon us…

Oh, wait a second. Five weeks ago it was 85º, my Halloween candy hangover has only just dissipated, we’re still a couple of weeks out from Thanksgiving and Christmas is still a month and a half away! Yet, the holiday advertising floodgates have already crashed open, drowning us with festive sales messages that we will endure until midnight on New Year’s Day.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am an adman through and through, but the earliness and severity with which holiday advertising hits us nowadays is just appalling. If it hadn’t been for the glut of political ads just passed, this year’s Yuletide season would likely have started well before All Hallows’ Eve. Every year, holiday promotions come earlier and earlier. By 2016, my guess is we’ll be bagging our Christmas gifts and our back-to-school supplies at the same time. My inbox is already bursting with glorious offers of holiday savings. The walls of my home away from home neighborhood liquor store are chock full of holiday gift packs of Jack Daniel’s and Cuervo. Hey, I like free shot glasses and tumblers as much as the next guy, but this is all too much, too soon.

Even more appalling are the big retailers that apparently must be open on Thanksgiving. Kmart opens at 6am with door busters. Sounds fun. Target, Macy’s and Best Buy open at 6pm. Inspiring. What about family and friends gathering together to celebrate giving thanks for what they have? Radio Shack was closed last Thanksgiving but they determined that they left too much on the table and announced that this year they would be open.

Ironically, after an outpouring of negative sentiments from employees and customers they scaled back their hours. In another turn for the better, a number of leading national chains are bucking the system and saying no to the Turkey-Day-trample-happy-money-grab. So maybe there is hope. See the naughty and nice list here.

I know. People are going to do what they’re going to do, but this early push for holiday sales is downright disrespectful. Just give me a peaceful November with Santa Claus stuck at the North Pole until the last possible minute. Help me take back the month of November! Stake it out and claim it as Month of the Turkey and/or perhaps the Preliminary Pre-Holiday Drinking Warm Up Season. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not with the times but the way I look at it, Thanksgiving ain’t what it used to be. I’ll bet the Pilgrims and the Indians are rolling in their graves.

Happy ThanXmas,

Buzz

Share: