Christmas in September

Christmas marketing displays have started to appear in Woolworths. What do you think, is it too soon for Christmas goods or are we ready to face the holiday season?

If you spot any Christmas displays this September, please share them below.

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There was an ad on TV for Christmas materials at Spotlight this month…maybe not so terrible if you want to start making things for the Festive Season. We seem to go from one celebration to the next with no break in the cycle. Making money is the only concern and any reason that supports that is well received by marketers and the corporations who feed off the frenzy.

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Coles Fruit Mince Pies.
Nearly 10,000 steps in every one, they must be one of Santa’s favourites.

https://www.calorieking.com/au/en/foods/f/calories-in-cakes-coles-finest-traditional-fruit-mince-pies/YxDd_WlsTEupdP2_HrFuuw

Needing 76 minutes to walk off just one portion at a brisk 130 steps per minute. Slightly longer if to a slightly slower military metre. You can always load a pack with 20-30kg of rocks if you are time poor and save a few paces.

Coles, you’ve done it again? :moyai:

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Will the retailers move the September Christmas stuff out of the way when it is time to display Halloween stuff for October? November Melbourne Cup stuff? etc.

What a prime example of the ignorance of greed at retail level

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… if Woolworths bring back the Turduckens (early) then I don’t care - marketing is like a soiled footpath, one steps over or around it …

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I just hate the marketing… and the store staff actually seem to believe that customer demand is what drives all this BS. Its just about money and profit.

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I just hate the bombarding that occurs, it adds to the “noise” which can make it more effort than it is already. Home/Online Shopping makes it somewhat easier but even then you have to troll through the online spiel at times to get to the grist.

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I believe Costco was first out of the gate :frowning:

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Enter the Costco in Ipswich and about 20-25 metres in you get assailed by the whatever season it is they want to advertise diorama…at the moment it is the Halloween skeletons (banjo playing no less), werewolf etc. (that has been in place for several weeks so far)

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I hope they can move their stock from Victoria up North. Even without lockdown our average trick or treat knock is < 1 p.a. over 18 years. I hear it has caught on in other areas, but.

Halloween is more American ingenuity where they ‘train’ young children to ask for free lollies just because they can. When I was little and partook we always had to sing or do something to entertain in return for a treat. Now it is assembly line to knock, get a treat, and leave ASAP, sometimes with a thanks and sometimes without.

Back when, householders who were not willing to engage us little folk often got their windows soaped or their front trees papered. Now? It is a free dessert…

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It is quite popular in our suburb with groups of kids door knocking with their parents watching after their safety from a short distance away.

I was under the impression that it was just another US marketing scheme like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to extract money from consumers between the main public holidays until I read this article that I posted in another topic.

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I think I may have developed a kind of blindness to this christmassy stuff… I shopped at Woolies today and didnt even notice it.

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I haven’t been near the shops this year but in the past David Jones has put up their big xmas decoration section on September 1st. I was gobsmacked to see it going up on Aug 31st one year and commented to the staff. They told me “It isn’t supposed to go up until tomorrow but we couldn’t wait!”

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I used to be appalled how early Christmas started in retail stores until I began working in Kmart. In early September my first year a customer asked me if we had any Christmas items yet because she wanted to send presents to her relatives in the UK. Oh yeah, the postal service…

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My local Coles store I note, has both side by side - Halloween and Christmas!!!

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In the northern hemisphere, there are bespoke shops which sell Christmas paraphernalia all year round (they don’t sell anything else). These are common in countries like Germany and Austria

This is one we visited in Salzburg (Austria), and saw similar ones around this part of Europe.

If the places which gives us many of our Christmas traditions can have 365/6 days a year selling Christmas decorations and other items, maybe the Australian retailers could do likewise.

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My GPS seems to be broken :upside_down_face:

https://www.westminsterchristmas.com.au/

and others in the greater (?) Melbourne metroplex.

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And Greater Brisbane

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Capricorn Rising
As my month of birth is December it provides an looming reminder. On the bright side I look forward to the hot cross buns on January 1

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