It’s October 31st. The day of Halloween. You’re sitting with your friends in the living room watching scary movies, and eating sour patch kids. Suddenly, your friend gets a notification on her phone and gasps. “Mariah Carey is defrosting!” You look at her with pure disgust. What do you mean “Mariah is defrosting?” Why would anyone want to think about Christmas this early?
For several years, there has been an upward trend in different retail stores and radio stations starting to play Christmas music concerningly early, way before the season actually begins. The same goes for holiday decorations; almost every shop that you go to, and every house you walk by, is wrapped in red and green Christmas lights and encased in glittery ornaments the day after Halloween.
Companies that focus on boosting their holiday sales months early by hiring expert marketing specialists to draw more customers should wrap it up and start having a little more common sense. “Profits over traditions” is seriously becoming our new motto. We see it happen every single year. Companies push consumers into that “holiday mindset” earlier on to get more sales on their holiday products. They instill this sense of urgency in their buyers: if you don’t get your favorite pine tree bath bomb on time, or your gingerbread house kit by the end of October, you’re done for!
Other students at MHS agree that all of this early shopping and listening to holiday music earlier on ruins the vibes of the season. Aster Phan (`27) believes that “there should be a period of time when you wait between holidays to listen to Christmas music.” People that do decide to celebrate the holiday season earlier and earlier every year feel the holiday enjoyment slowly draining away.
For those of you who do celebrate early, think of this scenario. Imagine celebrating your birthday for several days of the year, even when it’s not your actual birthday. As time passes and your actual birthday approaches, you don’t feel the enthusiasm and anticipation you once felt when you only celebrated your birthday one time a year. Do you notice the similarity? Having a constant habit of celebrating things just for the purpose of celebrating them will inevitably lead to impending boredom.
On the other hand, there are some traditions that could be celebrated before the holiday season to get us ready for when it begins. For example, getting one of those Advent Calendars, opening each compartment day by day until the actual holiday starts. This way, you will be able to get into that holiday spirit and feel this continuous build-up of excitement as Christmas approaches.
Furthermore, when people don’t have much to look forward to—whether they feel stuck and mentally drained from their jobs or just feel alone during the holiday season—getting into that “holiday mindset” earlier helps uplift their spirits. Being able to watch Elf on television or observing all the decorated houses from the window is a game-changer for a lot of people. So, in some ways, these companies can help consumers who generally feel left out during the holiday season.
Whenever people begin decorating and celebrating, the most important is recognizing the special moments that the holidays bring. Olivia Obergon `26 agrees that celebrating these holiday traditions are “a time for me to celebrate, be thankful, and be with family.” But maybe we don’t need to start listening to Mariah the day after Halloween.
