Two weeks before Easter I like to see the Easter displays in malls (there used to be such good ones when I was a child), grab a bunch of strips of the chocolate marshmallow eggs (with yolk, no funny flavours and Beacon only!) and a box of the white eggs. And when I walk past the bakery section in the supermarket, I like to be tantalised by the aroma of hot cross bunnies. <- from a joke when I was a child "What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? A hot, cross bunny"
At xmas time, I like the tinsel and decorations in malls, lights on houses and fairy lights everywhere. I can never get enough of fairy lights. And there's that end-of-year, holiday vibe happening. Last year I was appalled to see xmas decorations up in OCTOBER! They gonna try get them up for August this year? Shopping malls, 1st December. That's the only time I want to start to see decorations going up.
This year Easter falls over 6-9 April. Today is 2 February and there are hot cross buns and Easter eggs on display in my local Pick 'n Pay. It is abominable! I pulled out my phone to take a photo and a P'nP guy asked me whether I liked and I replied, "It is the second of February!". He responded, "We're starting early". In fact, my mom told me last week that she'd seen hot cross buns in the Bedford Centre branch last week.
And so he got a brief marketing lecture on products and occasions being special and that if they've got hot cross buns available for the next two and a bit months (and post-Easter too) then what's special about that. Where's the buzz of rushing in to get a pack of freshly baked, aromatic buns in the week or so before Easter - because that's the only time of year that you can get them. These buns are just that - they've gone from a special treat to ordinary.
I totally get the commercialisation of occasions (Valentine's, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Woman's Day, Xmas etc.) but this is pushing it.
So, I want to ask you and your friends and your relative and cousins and colleagues to say NO to this ridiculous bringing forward and de-specialising of holidays. Don't buy into it. Please do not purchase any Easter-related products until late-March. Save the special-ness of spicy, cinnamon-y hot cross bunnies for Easter and absolutely enjoy them then.
The weeks and months pass swiftly enough - we really don't need Easter in Feb.
P.S. Yes, I'm drafting a letter to Pick 'n Pay.
3 comments:
I am with you on this. I will not buy Easter until Easter time. I will sign your letter too. I will also post your blog on my Facebook.
I've had a mix of comments on Facebook. Some want easter eggs and hot cross buns only around Easter time, like me. This also goes for the fruit mince pies at xmas time.
An old school friend says that she works for a confectionery company "and we are under pressure from retailers to get Easter products on the shelf earlier and earlier every year...it's horrid!".
A sporty friend eats them all year round. Apparently you can get them throughout the year - they may not have the cross on them but they sure are hot cross buns. He loves them as a post-race snack.
While I could also eat them all year round, they lose their specialness and become commonplace - so I don't even look for them after Easter.
Many cultures have food that are only made for annual celebrations - even the turkey at Xmas and Thanks Giving is a version of this (in SA we don't often eat much turkey outside of Xmas. Wedding cake at weddings, bread in Mexico for Day of the Dead, fudge-like biscuits in India for Diwali, sugar-topped nutty cookies in Egypt for a three-day Muslim festival and loads of others - Greek, Chinese and Jewish traditions spring to mind.
I've had a number of comments around, "I love hot cross buns". This is a unanimous one ;)
Yeah, I love hot cross buns too but I especially like them because they traditionally have a time to be eaten and enjoyed.
I've already seen a store advertising Father's Day gifts. I didn't know if they were serious or just seriously confused.
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