On October 18th, I decided it would be fun to get the house decorated for Halloween. We had a few things, but the family really wanted a spooky spider, you know one of those giant ones with the pipe cleaner legs. So, we ventured out and I have to say, I was absolutely dismayed at the limited offerings. Christmas has already moved in.
We started at Pier1 where Halloween (and fall really) had been relegated to a small rack. Fortunately, there was one giant spider left. Whew! Next we went to Lowes figuring there would be lots of fun stuff, but Halloween had left the building. Santa kicked it out. Finally, we ventured to Target. At Target we did find costumes for the kids although it was clear the selection was low and sizes were limited. And, there was little in the way of decorations for the home. Again, Christmas was clearly the priority.
All of this left me perplexed and honestly a little angry. Here we were, 13 days before Halloween on a chamber of commerce day with blue skies, falling leaves and crisp chilly air. Yet retailers were calling it over. ‘Make way for Christmas!’ they said! Since when did Americans become so proactive and such planners I wondered. Heck, just today I got a reminder to RSVP for my kid’s 1st Grade parent party that is next Friday so I know we aren’t on top of things. Yet, we are apparently shopping for Christmas in mid October?
Christmas Creep it is coined. We’ve already received Christmas catalogs from Williams Sonoma, J. Peterman, Crate and Barrel, Magic Cabin and Lego to name a few. My 5 year-old influenced by those catalogs has already begun making his Christmas list. That’s right, before tricks and treats.
This retail madness is leading the whole season with the wrong message. Thanksgiving, which is really one of the most special holidays in its simplicity of enjoying family, friends and food, has been completely skipped. And Christmas rather than being about the religious holiday it is based on or even loving, sharing and giving becomes simply about getting because the selling happens before anyone (church, teachers, parents) begins to talk about Christmas. I can’t imagine that is the sort of message any of us want our kids to embrace.
And here is what I can’t quite figure out: why is this happening? What is driving this phenomenon?
Obviously retailers have a dog in the fight. They hope to get Christmas revenue in early because it reduces risk. Though I think it is gross, I get it. Retailers have to pay their bills. Shareholders demand profit or they will invest elsewhere. We all know about that. I’ve even read that beginning to sell Christmas in October allows retailers to place additional orders before December 25th if necessary making it easier to respond to unexpected demand.
The more curious question is why are consumers participating. The first and most obvious answer is what I learned. If you wait until a mere 2 weeks before Halloween there won’t be anything left so you better get out early. People are sort of like lemmings following each other over the cliff? Some sort of social psychologist might support that idea I suppose.
However, I wonder if it relates more to the Marshmallow Test. The Marshmallow Test is study that was conducted at Stanford by Walter Mischel in the late 60’s /early 70’s in hopes of understanding control of delayed gratification. Basically children (like 5 year-olds) were placed in a room with a marshmallow. They were told the adult would leave the room (leaving them alone with the marshmallow) and that if they didn’t eat the marshmallow they would get another one when the adult returned to the room. There are some hilarious videos of this experiment that are worth a watch.
Real interest in the study came when Mischel decided to check back with the study participants 40 years later. What they found is children who were able to resist the marshmallow longer had higher SAT scores, higher GPAs and better paying jobs after college. There are lots of criticisms about the study, however it has remained famous, influential and inspired other researchers to continue the study of delayed gratification control.
My point is that humans struggle with controlling gratification and retailers know it. One study found that there is a $6.50 boost per person in holiday spending for every day earlier that Thanksgiving falls each year (i.e. every day the shopping season is extended).
The question is are you okay with this Christmas Creep. Is it okay that from a retail perspective on October 18th Halloween and fall are over and it is now Christmas? Is it fine that Thanksgiving just ignored? Acceptable that Christmas becomes merely an opportunity for our kids to browse toy catalogs rather than some other kind of less material celebration? One would presume it is okay since each year the public gets sucked into shopping earlier and earlier.
I think Christmas Creep is creepy. I think the American shopper is getting suckered (again). You think you’re getting pre-holiday deals by shopping early, but the evidence is that you are spending more. And more importantly you are losing sight of what really matters and it isn’t the stuff.
Retailers will stop putting out Christmas in October if shoppers don’t buy the merchandise. Resist the marshmallow shoppers! Take back Halloween and Thanksgivng America! Stop Christmas Creep!
clearing mud 