“Christmas Creep” is snow Claus for alarm

Retail stores promoting Christmas shopping in advance actually benefits the economy.

Tis the season of the Christmas Creep, that time of year when malls and all of the department stores in them are decked to the nines with wreaths, Christmas lights, ornaments, big red bows, and Santa’s chair to take portraits with antsy, wailing tots and glee-filled children alike.
We’re all familiar with the “Creep,” even if we wish we weren’t. Christmas Creep is an annual trend during which some of us feel like the former of the two groups due to the premature, hyper-advertising of all things Christmas before the season is actually upon us. According to chief industry analyzer Marshal Cohen, in an interview he gave to Southern California Public Radio, Christmas Creep is beginning earlier and earlier each year.

Mass retailers often begin advertising for Christmas on the same night as Halloween here in Canada, and although it irks many of us, there is proof that the Creep is actually good for the economy (and yes, it actually makes a difference in our everyday lives as well).The Christmas shopping season is quite fleeting, feeling like a flurry of advertisements and just enough time to get everything one could need for the holidays. So if it would help to start selling Christ- mas materials earlier, why do we hate the Creep so much?
Alan Middleton, assistant professor of marketing and executive director of the Schulich Executive Education Centre, says Christmas Creep is good for consumers because it “increases the potential time for buying” during the holiday season.

“The additional benefit for the consumer is that they can begin to keep track of where there are special deals ahead of time,” he adds. “it enables planning, and if people plan properly, they actually save money.”

The Creep is the antidote for those who procrastinate with their holiday shopping, providing consumers with “the ability to plan their purposes better rather than having to panic about things at the last minute.” In addition to saving us from (some) holiday stress and over- spending with early bird sales and promotions, Middleton believes the Creep is good for us because it gives our fragile economy a boost.
“What’s happened really in the last decade is in order to finish the year with strong sales numbers, marketers have brought on the special deals earlier and earlier.” Strong sales numbers during the holiday season will inject Canada’s economy with a hankered boost just before the year wraps up.
Though the Creep has its benefits, there are also several negatives that come along with it and the holiday shopping season as a whole.

Although the Creep gives Canada’s economy a boost, it also gives us more time to think about each and every friend and/or relative that we should or shouldn’t buy a gift for, possibly resulting in more spending rather than “smart spending.”
Middleton says, “The downside is consumer debt loads. Canada is already one of the more indebted nations at a consumer level, much more than the US. A lot of these purchases go on credit cards, so you get the post-Christmas credit card shock.”
Despite the Creep giving our economy a push, Canadians’ excessive spending with credit cards during the holiday season inadvertently leaves us in a catch- 22 due to the benefits and consequences of spending. Christmas Creep is in full swing as of now, and it is here to stay. So even if you’re one of many who are anti-Creep, you might as well wave a white flag and accept that the trend isn’t going anywhere.

It has its advantages and if you are still skeptical of them, perhaps a more positive out- look on the Creep is that it helps distract you from the day-to-day gloomy weather that we’re currently experiencing as fall nears its end.

Salem Tesfai
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“Christmas Creep” is snow Claus for alarm

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