DAVID MURDOCK COLUMN: On the pace of holidays (it's too early for Valentine's ads)

Every year, the holidays seem to come earlier and earlier … if you pay attention to the schedule of businesses. It used to be that celebrations for one holiday had scarcely concluded before decorations for the next one had gone up at all the local stores. People fuss about it all the time, but businesses put those decorations up earlier and earlier every year. 

I went to an office in early November and noticed they already had their Christmas decorations up. When asked about it, they said that they would be so busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas that they wouldn’t have time, so they put up Christmas trees and stockings while they had the chance. That at least makes some sense. It’s a small office with only a handful of employees. 

However, about a week before Thanksgiving, I saw an early ad on the internet that I’m still not over. No, it wasn’t a Christmas ad, or even a New Year’s ad. An advertisement … of sorts … for Valentine’s Day crossed my screen one morning. Valentine’s Day. The one on Feb. 14. The one after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. That one. 

What’s happening? I understand completely why a small local office might put up their Christmas decorations early, but why are ads for Valentine’s Day on the internet before Thanksgiving? Flabbergasted, I am. 

Why don’t we just enjoy the holidays as they come along? Sure, it’s easy for the man who isn’t married and doesn’t have children to say that — I’ll admit that point. It just seems to me that we have turned our holiday season into something quite, well, “un-holiday-ish.” 

Normally, I just sort of take things as they come along, but another trend I’ve noticed in our holiday advertisements the last couple of years does actually concern me. The early ads are one thing, but some ads purport to help consumers “win” one holiday or the other. We are promised that we will “win” Thanksgiving or “win” Christmas if we just do this one thing or purchase this one product. Holidays are not competitions. Or, at least, they shouldn’t be. 

As a fan of classic cinema, I’ve noticed certain trends in old holiday movies. Take Christmas movies, for example — in lots of old Christmas movies, the characters start shopping for presents far later than we do today. In some of my favorite classic movies, the characters seem to begin shopping on Christmas Eve! They don’t seem to give quite as many presents to children as we do these days, and quite a few of them are decorating their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve. 

Now, from historical sources, those observations might not be quite true — what we see in movies as “history” quite often isn’t, even regarding holiday customs. How many of us celebrate Christmas, for example, like they do in all the movies on the Hallmark Channel? Snow on Christmas seems standard, for example, but that’s not been my experience. In all my life, I’ve only ever seen one single “white Christmas” — it snowed where I live in 2010. My mother and father were in their 70s and had never seen one. I’ve never felt cheated in any way by the lack of snow on Christmas. 

Movies and holiday specials do put a certain pressure on us to celebrate each holiday a certain way. That’s fine. I don’t particularly enjoy the movies Elf or A Christmas Story, but all the younger folks I know consider them beloved holiday classics. More power to them. As much as we don’t want to admit it, traditions do change. 

But these advertisements coming earlier every year, encouraging us to buy for the next major holiday before the current one is over? That’s not a welcome development. I’m sure some marketing gurus somewhere think it’s the best approach to maximize the sales of their companies, but it’s been my experience that “smart” marketers sometimes can be a little “dumb.” 

I’ve never forgotten a marketing poll I took once about a national fast-food chain. It asked me all sorts of questions about the hamburgers the chain offered. Had I ever eaten at this chain? Yes. Did I like the burgers? Oh yeah, they’re great. Love ‘em. How often do you eat there?  Maybe twice a year. 

That evidently confused them, because the next set of questions wanted to know how I could possibly love their burgers, yet only eat at their restaurant about twice a year. They had all sorts of options for me to explain the discrepancy, except the one that actually explained it — there’s no location near me. The closest one is not convenient for me, either from home or from work. Build one here; I’ll eat there. 

So, I’m aware that I’m not on the radar of the whiz kids in American marketing — I’m simply not a demographic to which they cater. Those Hallmark Movies I mentioned? I only know about them because other people tell me about them — I’ve never watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. I understand, though, that they started showing their Christmas movies on Oct. 22 this year. Before Halloween! 

Can we please just celebrate our holidays one at a time? 

David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions reflected are his own.