What Do Earth Day and Presidents' Day Have In Common?
As Advertising Age pointed out, big sales at the mall.
In a recent article by Natalie Zmuda (republished here at Commercial Alert), she asked, "Is Earth Day the New Christmas?"
"...marketers of all stripes are bombarding consumers with green promotions and products designed to get them to buy more products—some eco-friendly, some not so much. And while that message seems to contrast with the event’s intent, the oxymoron seems to have been lost on marketers jumping on the Earth Day bandwagon in record numbers. This year it seems that just about everyone has found a way to attach themselves to what is fast becoming a marketing holiday that barely resembles the grass-roots event founded in 1970."
As much as I'm never a fan of buying things to celebrate a national holiday (or even to celebrate the weekend, much to my wife's chagrin), I'm not sure I agree with Ms. Zmuda's point.
Americans are, by their very nature, consumers. I think Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the only holiday I'm aware of that doesn't inspire Sit 'N Sleep to slash prices on affordable bedding. Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Presidents' Day have nothing to do with white sales, free shipping, or moving merchandise on the sidewalks, and yet there they are, staples of the modern American landscape. Is anyone surprised businesses have hopped on board to sell merchandise on Earth Day?
What's more, the merchandise they're moving actually is aligned with the day itself, which is more than I can say about buying a new washing machine Columbus Day. ("He hated filthy clothing, you know.")
If Home Depot decides to reduce prices and sell thousands, nay millions, of fluorescent light bulbs, water saving shower heads, and bottles of plant fertilizer made from worm casings instead of petroleum (I'm not joking) then wouldn't you say that's a good thing to promote?
So, instead of just picking up trash for one day out of the year, by buying one fluorescent bulb you could be using(according to ENERGY STAR) 75% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb. And that one bulb will last 10 times longer than the incandescent one.
If Home Depot and Lowes can help people in America pull that off, then I for one am all for it.
If you want to consume today, go ahead.
Make today the last day you buy bottled water and pick up a nice reusable water bottle.
Just make sure to bring your reusable bag to take home your purchase.
(A side note, how, exactly, does Advertising Age run an article about consumerism out of control? Is that or is that not like an adult film star asking the FCC for Howard Stern to tone it down?
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