Inventing December to spur demand
conspicuous consumption not being in 'the spirit of things', December was pump-primed to raise not just heckles but also shekels. It would be fascinating to observe the first Christmas weeks in history when retail worship, in the form of a rotund, white-bearded man exhorting people to 'Buy! Buy! Buy!' — which magically comes out as 'Ho! Ho! Ho! — as a case study.
The post-Christmas days leading up to New Year are even more blatant about secularising what is ostensibly a sacral festival.
In that sense, we are all Decembrists. The invention of December was a masterstroke to spike demand.
The weather must have played a significant role in the initial project pitch: 'People don't sweat this time of the year, days are shortest, nights are longest — perfect conditions for the walletarati to shop till they drop. And, in December, they do without dropping for much longer.' Let this festive Retail the Red-Nosed Reindeer season be now replicated in what is considered a fallow month — say, August — by some bright marketing spark in your midst.
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