Heated debate has risen over when the holiday season officially starts. Does it start right after Halloween or not until Thanksgiving has ended?

A lot of this debate is sparked by companies’ genius marketing tactics. Before Halloween, businesses advertise their winter holiday-themed products. These early advertisements lead to massive hype and build-up to the release, usually after Halloween. It’s in the business’s best interest for its limited-time product to be out for the full two months so customers have plenty of time to buy. Why holidays like Christmas are chosen to receive all the hype is quite simple—over 2 billion people celebrate Christmas worldwide. According to Statista, 85% of Americans celebrate Christmas. Businesses make products with a bigger audience making Christmas as big as it is. 

The US is a consumerism-heavy country. Based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual average American spending on consumer goods is $77,280. On that, the World Counts website says that the US makes up for 29% of global spending on consumer goods. Americans love to buy, so businesses will make sure that they buy. Since holiday products are making huge money in countries like the US, it has become a tradition for businesses to release holiday products. 

Why not Thanksgiving? Well, Thanksgiving is not a worldwide holiday. However, this beckons the question of, since it is an American holiday, wouldn’t it also be heavily consumerized? That leads to the connection between a person and a holiday. Christmas is a popular Christian holiday, and it has a major religious impact on nearly all parts of the world. People can enjoy Christmas on a deeper spiritual level,  which helps Christmas’ popularity consistently grow. Today, there are tons of different ways to decorate and enjoy Christmas, and that is all due to the religious impact on people throughout history who valued this holiday more than others. Now Christmas has shifted to popular culture rather than religious culture. One thing businesses and companies love is exploiting popular culture. 

Some people believe Thanksgiving is a part of the Holiday season because of its giving nature, so to them, the holiday season logically starts in November. On the other hand, some believe the weather is still too reminiscent of fall for it to be a part of a winter-based season. I believe that consumerism is a main factor of when the Holiday season starts. Starbucks releases its holiday drinks the first week of November, as well as many other large companies. It’s easy to start associating when the holiday season starts with when holiday products start coming out, leading to companies deciding when the Holiday season starts. 

Do you resist marketing tactics and wait until Thanksgiving is over, or do you start decoration shopping right after Halloween?

Sources:

https://www.theworldcounts.com/ 

https://www.statista.com/topics/3216/national-holidays-in-the-us/ 

https://www.bls.gov/