America And The Commercialization Of Halloween
Halloween is probably the most commercialized celebration in America. When we talk about commercial potential, Halloween comes second to Christmas when it comes to popularity and marketability.
Commercial Contribution
Halloween is not only popular with kids alone. The Halloween festivities are popular with a wide variety of adult communities around the world. Since a New York Times columnist already declared that, the world is flat, international parades like The Greenwich Village Halloween parade attracts over a million people on a yearly basis.
How much does that contribute to a local economy? The figure shifts from year to year, but at one time the Greenwich Village Halloween parade contributed over $60 million. Because of the commercial quality and contributions to the local economy, even religious groups are willing to clam up just to make sure that people continue to patronize the event.
America and Canada
The Halloween festivities in Canada have been observed to generate roughly seven hundred million dollars in earnings. On average, American households spend around forty-five dollars for the Halloween celebration. Young urban professionals typically spend more for Halloween festivities.
The Halloween festivities generate around 6.8 billion dollars for the U.S. economy. Popular products for Halloween are:
- Candies
- Costumes
- Cards
- Party supplies
Stress relief
It’s a well-known fact that Halloween is that time of the year when people could let off a little pent-up steam. Often, it doesn’t matter anymore what the celebrations are really for. All that people know is that they can go to rave parties, drink, and party all night.
Ultimately, it is safe to say that Halloween continues to be celebrated mainly because of the adult appropriation of the celebration. Without the commercialization of the celebration, it would’ve most likely been forgotten. With all the negative aspects of its origin, it seems that this ancient-rooted celebration will only survive in the modern times by associating it with more acceptable and enjoyable aspects of life.
Problems, again
The annual Halloween celebration somehow conflicts with the conservative and religious principles. This is mainly due to two very sensitive and controversial issues:
- Alcohol
- Homosexuality
Homosexuality (which includes men and women) is very rampant during Halloween since everybody feels it’s the time of year when you can do anything you want and express yourself freely. Alcohol use on the other hand is a very big issue, since beer and hard liquor companies take advantage of the festivities to promote their products. Most Halloween parties are “all nighters” and booze is free-flowing.
More beer translates to more freedom: and the Halloween becomes the pinnacle of personal hedonism and liberty. Compared to the Yuletide season where people are encouraged to not drink and instead buy electronic goods, Halloween is the much-awaited free-for-all.
The stronghold of Halloween is still North America; however, this does not mean that it’s not being exported to the global south. It’s not unusual to see countries with no mass memory of the celebration to start buying Halloween-themed products and commodities.
For instance, in the U.K., Halloween is experiencing a renewed popularity. They usually celebrate it by wearing scary masks and lighting bonfires.
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