Christmas Commercials Already?

Last night I was watching The NBC Nightly News only to be confronted by a Christmas-themed commercial for Wayfair. While I was slightly annoyed, at the time I did not think too much about it. After all, there have been past years where a lone Christmas commercial has aired this early. As it turned out, this Wayfair commercial would hardly be a lone commercial. Last night I watched shows on Hulu and Tubi. I saw Christmas-themed commercials for both Hobby Lobby and Old Navy.

Now I don't want anyone to think that I hate Christmas. In fact, it is my favourite time of year. After Thanksgiving, I will start watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas songs. Around December 1 I will have the house decorated and my Christmas tree trimmed. I have even accepted that the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Mystery start showing Christmas movies this time of year and will continue to do so until New Year's. While I don't like missing The Golden Girls and Murder, She Wrote, I can always avoid the Hallmark channels until December 1 Unfortunately, there is not much way I can avoid Christmas-themed commercials, especially when they are airing during the national news and old shows on streaming services.

The simple fact is that it is two weeks before Halloween. Right now the leaves on most of the trees have not changed and the temperature is in the seventies (if one uses Fahrenheit). It is very much autumn and it feels very much like the weeks leading up to Allhallowtide. At the moment my mind on Halloween and  Día de Muertos. I have Halloween decorations up. Come October 27 I will set up my ofrenda for my dearest Vanessa. I am not thinking about putting up my Christmas decorations any time soon, nor am I thinking about what Christmas presents I will get my loved ones this year. I am certainly not thinking of snow (which rarely happens here on Christmas anyway), Christmas music, Santa Claus, or anything else associated with the holiday. Quite simply, right now I just want to enjoy the Halloween and Day of the Dead vibe of this time of year, not a holiday whose time won't come around for well over a month.

I can only think that many in the retail industry are convinced that by trotting out Christmas imagery and Christmas music well before Halloween, it will encourage people to do their Christmas shopping early. I do not believe this for a moment. First, it seems to me that most people will not do their Christmas shopping until Black Friday at the earliest, and many of them will wait until December. According to the survey known as the Shopify-Gallup Holiday Shopper Pulse from last year, only 8% of all shoppers said their Christmas shopping would be finished before December. I doubt Christmas-themed commercials will convince many to start their Christmas shopping in October, before Halloween has even passed. Second, there are probably many like me who are annoyed by Christmas-themed commercials airing before Halloween. And many like me will probably block out such commercials and make sure not to shop at those retailers advertised in those commercials.

Christmas is my favourite holiday, but I want to celebrate it in its own time. I don't want to see commercials with Christmas themes during what is the season of Halloween. Of course, sadly I am also aware that complaining about such commercials does little good. It seems like a few retailers out there will continue to roll out Christmas advertisements early, regardless of what anyone thinks.