The age old debate............How Early is Too Early? When is it socially "acceptable" for advertising for the Christmas shopping season commencement? 90 Days Out or Black Friday? Let's start with Black Friday, the most ironic day in the history of forever...the day or evening of that people trample other people and stand in long lines to get deals on things they want and don't have, a day after being "thankful" for the things they have. For some people who Christmas shop for their children, they need more than 25 days to shop and buy these gifts. The fact of the matter is that 90 days out affords people the opportunity to shop early and budget accordingly. Instead of frantically running from store to store in search of this year's best seller and rummaging through holiday flyers for the best deal on Thanksgiving Day, taking time away from the loved ones you should be spending it with. Some people will argue that you can't skip two major holidays in lieu of the Christmas shopping season but in actuality, getting a jump on the Christmas season makes the other holidays more enjoyable. Perhaps, some people are just solely against the idea of advertising "prematurely" and are more accepting of those that do it subliminally. Take the retail giant Lowe's for instance. The first day of Autumn every year, Lowe's takes down all of their summer furniture and puts up their Christmas decorations in their place. Mind you, these decorations are the very first things you see when you walk in, they're in the very front of every single Lowe's store, you literally can't miss it. I personally don't believe that Lowe's does this to get a jump on their competition to sell their Grinch and Mickey Mouse yard decorations and this year's trendy artificial Christmas tree. No my friends, Lowe's does this to subliminally put you in the Christmas shopping mindset when you enter their store. They accomplish one of two things by putting this in front of your face when you come to Lowe's to see what the close outs on grills and lawnmowers are for the end of the season. They either secure a sale for "early Christmas" shopping, which they inevitably would've sold a couple weeks later for much less money or become the front runner in your mind for what you're going to purchase because you saw it there first. Lowe's isn't the only company that does this, Walmart does the same thing. Walmart just doesn't put it directly in front of your face, they just place it on the tallest shelves so that Santa Claus in his motorized inflatable airplace can be seen from any major aisle in the store. I am writing this blog because we as a business are putting up a Christmas shopping advertisement billboard next week. Yes, the week before Halloween. It is inevitable that I will get a phone call from someone voicing their displeasure in which I will politely refer them to my website where I will subliminally advertise it more to read my blog on the matter. The fact is that holiday seasons have become a rat race for retail businesses, everyone trying to get a piece of the pie. It is inevitable that people will shop from Black Friday through Christmas Eve but being a small business and not having the advertising budgets that these major retailers do, we do what it takes to get a leg up on the competition when we can.
Thanks for Reading!!!
