Christmas is 13 weeks away; except apparently it’s not.
Customers are sharing mixed responses at the sudden appearance of Christmas-themed products in grocery stores around the country.
Gracing the aisles of Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are a variation of festive foods and other accompanying decoration. Next to the chocolate boxes and other ordinary grocery items, are mince pies. Boxes of tightly strung Christmas lights are stacked in copious amounts, ready for frustrated parent to tear them out in late December. David Jones entered the seasonal selling period on Monday, taking the premature celebration preparation to an extreme, selling Christmas trees along with other related merchandise.
It’s September. Christmas is three months – a quarter of the year – away.
There was an ancient tradition that said the construction of a Christmas tree was to happen on the first of December. Note that this is still over two months away. There was also a time where Christmas Eve was reserved for such activities. Today, the marketing sector of society is screaming that September is a good time to pull out the lights and tinsel. Yet, the consumer backlash that is so often usual under such forced circumstances is surprisingly mild.
“I heard Christmas music playing in Big W,” commentated a member of the public on Facebook.
“…I love carols,” she followed up and was greeted by similar sentiments.
It seems that while some are waiting in spiteful glee for the raging uproar of worn-out soccer mums and opinionated senior citizens, the general public is astonishingly accepting of the premature festivities.
“What’s wrong with Christmas early?” one customer said. “I love Christmas.”
Hidden under the mountainous optimistic responses, a few snide comments lie in reference to the moneymaking scheme that is the Christmas season.
“Just plain wrong,” Mick Atkinson remarked on Facebook, refusing to revel in the festive cheer so early.
“Its [sic] all about sales and profits,” Juno Bevan said in a comment that would have surely ruffled feathers in the commercial world.
In an attempt to avert attention from the sales-related reasons, Aldi told News.com that the early entry of Christmas products was simply to “[help] shoppers to plan ahead and avoid the stress of a last minute rush”.
Whether the goal is to help with festive panic or to scavenge what’s left of our tax refunds, the census is clear – there are carols playing in our shopping centers, and we’ve learnt to be okay with it. – Bonnie Collis
Top photo taken by Ben Atkinson-James
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Production Editor / Lifestyle Writer.
