More On "Christmas In July"

Apparently I'm not the only one to take note of Sears' Christmas in July promotion.

Time Magazine has also questioned their thought processes with an article titled "Kmart's Christmas in July: Inspiration or Desperation?". (Kmart is owned by Sears.)

From the article, a Sears spokesperson says "People are buying earlier today. Also, customers have grown accustomed to the Christmas-in-July terminology, so we wanted to leverage that."

Which made me wonder just what marketing genius came up with this whole Christmas in July thing in the first place? After all, it was a marketing gimmick that started the whole Valentine's Day massacre of the postal service in February, so why not Christmas in July?

Was it, too, a marketing ploy? Partly.

While Chistmas in July has marketing underpinnings in the Western hemisphere, the Southern hemisphere it's the name given to social events with a winter Christmas theme, as July is generally the coldest month of the year. (from Wikipedia)

As we head into this weekend where the temperatures are going to hit 100 degrees for the first time this year, I'm reminded of my best memory about Christmas in July. It was during one of the hottest days ever in Utah; a local TV station said they were about to show a weather-related photo, and up popped a picture of a blizzard.

Cool.