Jaycie Thierry
Staff Writer
Through an informal survey asking University of La Verne students whether they think Christmas is celebrated too early, 18 out of 20 said they would like to have more of a nip in the air before ringing in the season.
“It’s my favorite time of year,” senior sociology major Elizabeth Galioto said adding that now is not too soon for her.
But for the vast majority, seeing holiday displays out around Halloween is their real nightmare before Christmas.
“I almost feel like I’m seeing stuff for Christmas time when it’s still summer,” Kaycee Barragan, freshman biology major, said.
Today marks 54 days until the big guy in the red suit comes to town, but the Christmas creep is in full effect.
“It’s all about marketing,” sophomore business administration major Gonzalo Rodriguez said. “The sooner you get products out to people, the sooner they can buy them.”
Motifs of green trees with brightly-colored lights and dazzling ornaments to match are already popping up in various stores.
Holiday music like Mariah Carey’s iconic tune “All I Want for Christmas is You” is on repeat as if it were Groundhog Day.
“I hate it,” Jacob Hernandez, sophomore criminology major, said. “It just becomes very repetitive.”
“Holiday music playing too early in the season is annoying, it just kills the vibes,” junior kinesiology major Ricardo McGary said. “By the time it’s actually December, you’re over it.”
Sophomore biology major Stephanie Madera, however, thinks otherwise.
“As soon as November hits, everyone should be jolly,” Madera said. “I’d like to appreciate it a little longer than a month, as long as it’s after Halloween.”
Is Christmas coming too early? In the name of consumerism, retailers must think not.
Junior business major Alicia Magee works at TJ Maxx and said her store is already prepared for the holiday season.
“We got our Christmas stuff in about August or September and the store has since been redecorated for the holidays,” Magee said. “People like shopping ahead of the season, but it’s just way too early.”
The flashy store displays are not the only things visible before Halloween and Thanksgiving. Retailers are already releasing their sales far in advance before Black Friday on Nov. 29 and Cyber Monday on Dec. 2.
Junior kinesiology major Jonathan De Rueda said it feels like Thanksgiving is skipped right over.
“I actually completely forgot all about Thanksgiving because of Christmas ads,” he said.
Walmart issued its toy advertisement, encouraging holiday shopping a whole week before people could get their spookiest costumes together in time for Halloween.
“I can let it slide further in November, but not now,” Ryan Mendoza, junior kinesiology major, said.
The one day a year where customers can shamelessly camp out and storm the doors of retailers for the latest sales starts just a few hours after wrapping up Thanksgiving dinner.
“I think it’s dumb,” Pablo Estrada, freshman kinesiology major, said. “(Black Friday) ruins Thanksgiving.”
“It’s way too early for Christmas stuff being sold,” Michael Johnson, senior business administration major, said. “But it does make sense seeing businesses reinforce consumerism.”
Holiday shopping does not come quite cheap either.
A study conducted by the National Retail Federation found that Americans are expected to spend more money on gifts than at any other time during 2018.
Another study, carried out by Gallup, estimated Americans would spend nearly $885 on gifts per person. Other discoveries included: 33% of those surveyed expect to spend at least $1,000 on gifts; 22% expected to spend between $500 and $999; 29% expected gift spending to be between $100 and $499; and 3% planed to spend less than $100
Despite living on a college student’s budget, many said they are still willing to look around, whether they are shopping for others or themselves.
“You don’t have to leave your house when you’re shopping online,” Holly Salazar, sophomore international studies major, said. “I actually just made a list of family and friends and started planning what they’ll like.”
“I like buying things for myself so I’m not too disappointed when I don’t get them as gifts,” junior business major Marcus Blevins said.
As the holiday season approaches, no matter how early holiday advertisements come out, missing out on deals will only have people digging deeper into their pockets, perhaps even including Santa himself.
Jaycie Thierry can be reached at jaycie.thierry@laverne.edu.
