HOW SOON IS TOO SOON FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON?

Infographic

Every year, right before the end of Daylight Saving Time, I call my mother to needlessly remind her the clocks are turning back and it’s going to get much darker, much earlier for the foreseeable future. I say this is a needless reminder because most clocks adjust on their own these days, and darkness falling early is usually pretty evident to the naked eye. At this point, it’s just a little annual ribbing I give her about the onset of the least wonderful time of year, as far as she’s concerned: winter.

Well this year, the joke was on me. This year, the conversation ended on a shocking note. My mother asked me, in a matter-of-fact voice, “What do you want [for Christmas]?”

It was October 31st. I certainly didn’t have an answer. I hadn’t so much as devoted a stray thought to it. And I’m pretty sure that was the earliest point in the year she’d ever asked.

The complaint seems to grow louder each year, doesn’t it? The onslaught of ads, TV specials, toy lists, department store music and other well-intended reminders seems to arrive earlier and earlier with each passing holiday season.

Just how early? Well this year, Kmart aired the earliest holiday season ad ever on September 3rd — four days before Labor Day. Jokey as it was, Kmart was dead serious about beating all the other retailers to the punch with this layaway ad.

Do these early warning signs throughout the Fall actually work? Are people more engaged with the holiday shopping journey for a longer period of time than ever before? If my mother’s terrifying Halloween inquiry is any indication, that seems to be the trend. And right now, we are in the crucial transition period between early warning, offline ephemera (like the Starbucks Coffee Red Cups), and an aggressive push from advertisers that now routinely includes content marketing. Here’s how Holiday season’s played out in recent history.

Originally published at www.outbrain.com.