The fall season has students buzzing with excitement about their Halloween costume ideas, and teachers are decorating their classrooms in spirit of the upcoming festivals. As the season begins, it’s hard to miss the displays of pumpkins and themed decorations all over Lambert High School. While fall is known for its wide variety of festivities, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, it has also become known for the rise of consumerism that occurs. This is because it has more holidays compared to the other seasons and the change in weather causes a shift in mindset as people focus more on staying indoors.
What occurs during the fall is seasonal consumerism, which is when people buy goods and services in patterns that tie to specific times of the year. A major reason for why this happens is how businesses promote and advertise themselves during this time. Companies use the season to create more themed products, such as Starbuck’s seasonal drink Pumpkin Spice Latte or Hobby Lobby’s extensive array of fall and thanksgiving themed decorations, in order to get more consumers to buy their products. According to AP Seminar and AP Language teacher Dr. Norton, that while these things can be fun, companies can do too much and it interferes with what celebrating the holidays is truly about.
“I love to decorate things and I like to have all the fun that is associated with those things,” AP Seminar and AP Lang teacher Dr. Norton said. “But I also don’t think that that’s what it’s about. I think it is about spending time with the people that you care about.”
While buying such products isn’t necessarily a bad thing, excessive purchases and advertisements have led to a disconnect between holidays and their true meaning.
Seasonal consumerism can influence people through social media. Many teachers have connected this to the lack of involvement that occurs around Halloween. Dr. Norton notes that students have stopped getting involved in the holiday’s festivities, and she believes that the constant bombardment of advertisements on social media could be the reason why.
“I’ve noticed that students are not as into decorating, dressing up or doing things like they used to be,” she explained. “There used to be a real sense of community around things like that, and I think it is the inundation that people have of ads all the time. There’s a sense of desensitization, for that kind of thing because it’s so prevalent in everybody’s lives.”
Teachers aren’t the only ones who have noticed the impact of consumerism on students. Many students are noticing how seasonal trends have affected their peers. Change Earth Co-President Jeremy Chen is one of many who noticed this and has raised concern for how it could impact the environment.
“It’s not going to help the environment,” he said. “But, it’s also not a bad thing. So, I guess it’s just a part of our social life that we need to address. While we can spend more and have fun, we also need to be environmentally aware.”
According to a 2021 paper from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 45% of carbon emissions come from the production of goods. With consumerism playing a big part in modern culture and society, it’s important for students to be aware of the effects their purchases can have on the environment.
Despite being in the middle of fall, companies have already started rolling out their advertising campaigns to promote Christmas and New Year’s deals. Christmas campaigns starting earlier in the year is known as Christmas Creep, which is when retailers try to lengthen their selling period in order to make more profit. Over the past couple of years, companies have been pushing for earlier advertising campaigns, reflecting how the holidays have become more consumption-based than before.
“It’s not even November yet and they’ve already started decorating for the Christmas holidays,” Dr. Norton explained. “It’s a lot more consumer-based than it used to be and I get kind of annoyed when it’s Halloween season, and I’m looking for Halloween things. I go in somewhere, and they already have their Christmas day decor out. I just think it’s unnecessary.”
With consumerism rising around the holiday season, it is hard not to fall to seasonal trends, especially when promotions for it are everywhere. However, by being more mindful of what one is purchasing, students can avoid falling into the consumerism trap and hopefully find more meaning in celebrating during the fall season.
