Aug27

summerween.

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a bit confusing, like these leaves seem to be,

showing the colors of two seasons

—

listening to npr

they talked about starbuck’s

starting the pumpkin spice train

a month earlier this year

pumpkin spice everything = fall/autumn

 i don’t remember the calendar saying

that fall begins in august

the seasons/holidays/calendar

shift with the world of marketing

 not with the weather (90F) recently

or dates

but by creating their own

‘extended seasons and festivities’

 people get excited early

 start the buying frenzy

happy summerween

i’m holding out for my favorite real season – fall.

—

‘the seasons change their manners, as the year had found some months asleep and leapt them over.’

-william shakespeare

 

here is a partial transcript of the npr conversation:

KIM: Summerween is that time of the year when major retailers start to promote all things sweater weather, even though shorts and flip-flops are still in season. George John is a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He says it’s been a trend for a while now.

JOHN: This is the trend of moving up Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween, the three big sort of seasons that run into each other, earlier and earlier and earlier.

KIM: But this year, fall- and Halloween-related goods seem to be popping up sooner than ever. Take Home Depot, for instance. The retailer launched an online Halloween campaign in April. In June, Lowe’s, Party City and Michaels all released spooky seasonal items online, earlier than in previous years. Most recently, on Thursday, Starbucks began serving its iconic pumpkin spice latte on August 22, the coffee chain’s earliest rollout yet. Most of the big businesses say that these early rollouts are in response to excitement from consumers.

JOHN: if they just stretch every darn holiday out to being a season, it just loses its meaning, and it loses its intensity. A risk they are willing to take.

 

 

—

Source credits: Juliana Kim, NPR News, George John, University of Minnesota

 

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82 responses »

  3. My wife was talking about Christmas yesterday, and we haven’t even been on our (late) summer holiday yet! Shops are full of Halloween stuff, and it’s not even September. And one local supermarket is selling Christmas decorations and cards already. I think it destroys the spirit of those celebrations, and fear that one day, they will become ‘all year round’.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. As much as I like Starbucks, they need to stay in their lane with the seasons. They have been hurting with same store sales down against last year. They’re trying to lure customers to spend more money. I’m with you. Fall is the best time of the year with cool crisp evenings and warm sunny days. Even occasional rainy day is a blessing. Headed up north this weekend to close down the cottage for the summer. Peace.

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  9. OK, Beth, when the New York State Fair starts here in Syracuse, I know it’s time to keep my eye out for the start of more chilly nights and the yellowing of leaves on our trees. And my dear wife Karen and I went to the fair on Friday, so … Anyway, I’m not s pumpkin spice-seeker, so no summerween for me.

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  13. The SNL bit – Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler doing ‘sweater weather’ popped up in my IG feed this week. A sign of something! And then one of my favorite songs from The Neighbourhood popped to mind…”Sweater Weather”. So good. But I’m with you. What’s the rush? 😎

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  15. My guide is the seasonal banner I hang on my front door. Until the correct one goes up, no matter the weather or what consumer experts say, it is not officially the new season. I like a door that constantly reminds me that I don’t have to be sucked into trends… and to think for myself ;)

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  16. It’s looking a lot like fall already in southern Minnesota, too. My neighbor’s maple started turning color more than a month ago. There are some trees scattered around town that are in full-blown color morphing. It seems early. But perhaps I just forgot how soon this transition begins.

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  21. Personally, I loathe these early shopping crap. I refuse to partake and if that means I miss “specials”, than so be it. Much as I adore fall, it being my favourite, I do enjoy my summer and am in no rush for it to end! Fall will be here sans pumpkin spice everything in the blink of an eye. To each season their joys, please.

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  24. I haven’t heard of summerween before this, but it fits. Now that I’ve seen Halloween decorations at Home Depot, and pumpkin spice everything in the grocery store. Seeing those things makes the summer days feel hotter 🌞

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  27. I recently saw the results of a favorite season survey in the United States. Nothing too shocking. Fall—41%, Summer—24%, Spring—24%, and Winter—11%.

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  31. totally agree with John‘s statement. And the leaves do their own thing since forever. Last year which was really hot and long ‚in heat‘ too, dry leaves fell from the trees in July…. This year we had no pre-summer and a lousy start; but then temps jumped by over 10°C a day, they rose and fell – no wonder that nature doesn‘t have a rhythm any longer.
    But that ever earlier pumping out unseasonal stuff gets on my nerves too.
    (and yet, last week, in a ‚cold‘ spell – temps dropped from 32 to 19°C – yours truly made a ‚winter tea‘ for her breakfast….. straight from last Christmas Season)

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