What? No St. Patrick’s Day Marketing?

Not that I’ve exactly been on the look out for it, but I’ve seen unusually scant evidence - in this most Irish of American cities - that St. Patrick’s Day is upon us.

Yes, I have seen a bit more greenish stuff in some store windows. London Harness - a pricey gift and stuff store - has a window loaded with Vera Bradley bags with green in them. But that may just be a salute to spring. And the schlock-shops and sidewalks do have those hideous green plastic derbies, highly flammable neckwear, and mylar shamrock beads on display. CVS had a small display of green "stuff." But my card store had a poorer selection of St. Patrick’s Day cards than usual. And haven’t I seen packages of green M&M’s in the past? Not this year.

I haven’t noticed any greening of the local TV ads yet, either. Sure and by this time of the year, yer man for one of the local furniture stores, car dealerships, or tire companies, would have been on the air with some kind of leprechaunish come on. ("Irish eyes are smiling over this bargain, ladies and gentlemen.") Begorra! What’s the world coming to? Has the spirit of St. Patrick come down to earth to drive the marketers out of St. Patrick’s Day with the same fervor that he used to drive the snakes out of Ireland? All I’ve seen on TV is a Guiness ad for making St. Patrick’s Day a national holiday. (Take it from someone who lives in a city where it’s a local holiday: bad idea. And, no, it’s not St. Patrick’s Day here, it’s Evacuation Day, celebrating the departure of British troops from Boston, which by fortunate coincidence happened on March 17th.)

No, as it turns out, this year, St. Patrick’s Day has had a near collision with the Easter Bunny.

Easter falls this year on March 23rd, which is just about as early as it gets, leaving St. Patrick’s Day in Holy Week, parade dates on Palm Sunday, and no room on the shelves for both St. Patrick’s Day merchandise and Easter baskets, pastel "spring time" M&M’s, Easter cards, stuffed bunnies, and - of course - Peeps - including some sickly green Peeps, but they were peep-peeps (i.e., chicks), not shamrocks.

 

Because of this - I read somewhere - spending on St. Patrick’s Day accoutrements is expected to be lower than it was last year.

The National Retail Federation, the retail industry trade group predicts that:

… consumers will spend an estimated $3.64 billion on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) this year - less than last year’s $3.76 billion.

They claim that the average consumer will spend $35 on things related to St. Patrick’s Day - often, it appears, in bars.

$35 a piece? $3.64B? Those are truly staggering numbers, even if they’re down from the past.

Meanwhile, Hippity-Hoppity, St. Patrick’s Day is on it’s way, so Happy St. Patrick’s Day to yez all.

And meanwhile #2: this is the best St. Patrick’s Day-related "thing" I’ve seen this year:

 

(Full disclosure: for 2008, this pin is my wearin’ o’ the green.)

Whatever side of the political fence you sit on, you have to admit that this political button is pretty good.

---

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader. If you don't have a feed reader, you can always have these articles delivered to your email inbox every day. Click here to sign up.

The Opinionated Marketers | Powered by WordPress | ElegantBlue is a custom theme by Nathan Rice