# Target holds off on Christmas marketing ----- NOT! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804 "2017-10-25T11:53:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/1 "2017-10-25T11:53:48Z")
Target’s been advertising about how it’s not going to start doing Christmas marketing before Thanksgiving (which is, arguably, a form of Christmas marketing itself. But let that pass for now) Pepper Mill, watching this, immediately picked up the Target flyer we got. “Then what’s _this_?” she asked. The flyer was covered in Christmas toys and decorations. and I know that they have Christmas lights set up in their stores right behind the Halloween stuff – I’ve seen it. It’s probably too much to expect a store to forgo Christmas selling even for a time, considering how big a part of the store’s profits come from it. But, then, why make so transparently false a boast? Hufington Post comments on this: > [@](#): > > Target says it’s taking a stand against Christmas creep, noting that customers want more emphasis on Thanksgiving before it’s time to get jolly with the mistletoe and holly. > “They want us to pause and be really intentional and recognize Thanksgiving,” Rick Gomez, Target’s chief marketing officer, told The Associated Press. “What they don’t want us to do is go right into Christmas. So, we are going to respect that.” > But there’s a huge asterisk on that promise, which earned the company plenty of press coverage about how it was tackling Christmas creep. > Because it’s not. > The promise to recognize Thanksgiving and hold off on Christmas products/decorations only applies to one small area of its stores. > **[Target Claims It Won't Start Christmas Early, Then Starts Christmas Early Anyway](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/target-christmas-creep_n_59f01180e4b0bf1f8836b6d1?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009)** > > Retailer's promise not to launch the holiday season early comes with an asterisk. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/2 "2017-10-25T11:58:44Z")
Ahhhh, they’re 2010’s-style “Bethlehem raise.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/3 "2017-10-25T12:07:37Z")
_Christmas Creep_ would make a good horror movie title. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/4 "2017-10-25T17:25:56Z")
There are a bunch of places saying they will be closed on “Black Friday”. Yeah, I bet that will change in the next few weeks… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/5 "2017-10-25T18:52:18Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > _Christmas Creep_ would make a good horror movie title. Directed by Tim Burton. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/6 "2017-10-25T19:29:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Target’s been advertising about how it’s not going to start doing Christmas marketing before Thanksgiving (which is, arguably, a form of Christmas marketing itself. But let that pass for now) > > Pepper Mill, watching this, immediately picked up the Target flyer we got. “Then what’s _this_?” she asked. The flyer was covered in Christmas toys and decorations. > > and I know that they have Christmas lights set up in their stores right behind the Halloween stuff – I’ve seen it. There had better be “Christmas stuff” in Targets before Thanksgiving - I’m not waiting forever to replace my artificial tree. Shilling things for gifts, I can understand waiting, but there shouldn’t be a problem with trees and decorations (ornaments, lights, etc.) being sold right after Halloween. Hallmark sets up its Christmas stuff pretty much right on November 1, and I have never seen anyone have a problem with that. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > There are a bunch of places saying they will be closed on “Black Friday”. Yeah, I bet that will change in the next few weeks… Closed on Black Friday, or closed on Thanksgiving Day? I can’t find any mention of stores closed on that Friday. The only reason I can think of that a store would be closed on Black Friday is if it was open on Thanksgiving Day and they want to use the Friday to set up for the full Christmas crush. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/7 "2017-10-25T19:37:27Z")
I don’t think anyone has an issue with shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was making retail people work on Thanksgiving itself that was shitty. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/8 "2017-10-25T22:54:46Z")
Christmas time is here by golly Disapproval would be folly Fill the halls with hunks of holly … God rest ye merry merchants may ye make the Yuletide pay … etc., Tom Lehrer remains as topical as every 50+ years later. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/9 "2017-10-26T01:21:50Z")
The local Wal-Mart was setting up their Christmas stuff over a month ago. I’ve given up on the whole thing, though I’d like to start a…“War On Christmas”. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/10 "2017-10-26T01:23:53Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Closed on Black Friday, or closed on Thanksgiving Day? I can’t find any mention of stores closed on that Friday. The only reason I can think of that a store would be closed on Black Friday is if it was open on Thanksgiving Day and they want to use the Friday to set up for the full Christmas crush. For at least this year and last year, I know REI is closed nationwide for Thanksgiving and Black Friday. There’s been quite a lot of pushback on the Thursday hours in the last few years, because it tends to pull employees away from their families. I know the one Thanksgiving I worked retail cost me my faith in humanity - that no customer was punched was a significant victory for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/11 "2017-10-26T04:55:57Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I don’t think anyone has an issue with shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was making retail people work on Thanksgiving itself that was shitty. But don’t retail people have to work on Thanksgiving itself for there to be a black Friday? (I don’t have any huge moral issue with stores being open on Thanksgiving, but a few years ago I remember people who were adamantly opposed to it being okay with buying the fruits of Thanksgiving labor on Friday.) ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/12 "2017-10-26T06:10:24Z")
I think we should just say “fuck it” and give in to it. We should do Christmas year round. 264 days of X-mas decorations and displays in every store. Then we could all get numb to it and ignore it (kind of like I do now by mid-October). Although all that Christmas music would soon make me kind of stabby. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/13 "2017-10-26T11:30:12Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > But don’t retail people have to work on Thanksgiving itself for there to be a black Friday? No. In fact, you don’t even need to be in a country which celebrates a holiday called “Thanksgiving”. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/14 "2017-10-26T11:32:16Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I don’t think anyone has an issue with shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was making retail people work on Thanksgiving itself that was shitty. Gas stations, hospitals, and movie theaters are all open on Thanksgiving. Why is it so important that retail workers get the day off? Are their families so much more important? Many retail workers can’t afford to lose a day’s pay. Why do some people get their panties in such a twist and want to dock them a day’s pay? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/15 "2017-10-26T12:00:36Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > But don’t retail people have to work on Thanksgiving itself for there to be a black Friday? (I don’t have any huge moral issue with stores being open on Thanksgiving, but a few years ago I remember people who were adamantly opposed to it being okay with buying the fruits of Thanksgiving labor on Friday.) If they close Thanksgiving, then the work for Black Friday can be done on the Wednesday, surely? Or am I completely missing the point you’re making? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/target-holds-off-on-christmas-marketing-not/799804/16 "2017-10-26T18:06:17Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > If they close Thanksgiving, then the work for Black Friday can be done on the Wednesday, surely? Or am I completely missing the point you’re making? Before they had the new trend of being open in the evening on Thanksgiving, we would just stay later on Wednesday and put out the Black Friday merch. This was at all three (ugh) Targets I worked at. ETA: Actually, 2 out of the 3. The third one had an overnight crew to stock the store, they worked their normal shift on Wed Night/Thursday day and they put out the merch. They, then, got Thursday Night/Friday day off while the rest of us came in at 2 or 3 AM.