Where’d the Turkey go?

Today is November 15th and Thanksgiving is just a few days away; I’m sitting here scratching my head wondering where autumn has gone.

Besides my unrealistic desire to bend space and time and go back to early September (and drink pumpkin spice lattes forever) I’m kind angry about something… has America forgotten about Thanksgiving?

I was at the mall today – get in line for pictures with Santa. I was at Giant this evening – pre-oder your Christmas ham.

No turkeys on sale, no cornucopias of mulling spices, nothing. Just Christmas colors, toys and trees everywhere. Now, I’m a huge fan of Christmas; but it just feels like Thanksgiving is getting shoved out of the sandbox.

Now, here’s the marketer in me. I realize why -

• Retailers need longer periods of shelf life to move products
• The consumer buying cycle is quite a bit longer than in years past (though, I’d argue it’s shorter than last year). Remember that recession thing?
• It takes longer for a brand message to resonate with a consumer
• Retailers need $$$$$, Christmas is more profitable than Thanksgiving (why not get more milk from the cash cow?)
• …and many many more

But when the day is done, my romantic view of turkey day is surely in the minority.

Long live cranberry sauce, sausage stuffing, homemade gravy, turkey and the Thanksgiving classic!