Hallmark holiday
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"Hallmark holiday" is a disparaging term, used predominantly in the United States, to describe a holiday that is perceived to exist primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally significant religious or secular event. The name comes from Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri, that benefits from such manufactured events through sales of greeting cards and other items. The company itself denies having any role in the creation of the holidays that bear this moniker.[1] Holidays that have been referred to as "Hallmark Holidays" include Valentine's Day, Sweetest Day, Mother's Day[2] and Fathers' Day.[3]
Gift givers often feel pressured to give a gift on those days as told by advertisers or society that one is expected. Men are heavily marketed to near Valentines Day by jewelry, chocolate, and other companies to give their products as gifts to the woman in their life. Companies like Vermont Teddy Bear and PajamaGram are noted for their ads on sports radio shows such as ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning. Their advertisements laud the ease in which their products can be bought and given to a girlfriend or wife with little effort on the man's part. As opposed to those holidays that are celebrated despite their "Hallmark" qualities, even more "manufactured" Hallmark holidays include Grandparents' Day, Sweetest Day, Boss's Day, and Administrative Professionals' Day (formerly Secretary's Day). These are frequently ignored by a sizable percentage of the public.
Related to "Hallmark Holiday" is the pop-culture term "Hallmark Moment." It can suggest either a serendipitous event or encounter, or a sappy emotional appeal, especially manipulation of emotion for financial gain.[4]
In 2009, David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to US President Barack Obama played down the significance of the "first 100 days of presidency", which receives much mainstream media news attention for new US Presidents, as a "Hallmark holiday".[5]
[edit] References
- ^ How a Holiday Becomes A Card sending Occasion, Hallmark. Accessed October 17, 2007. "While we're honored that people so closely link the Hallmark name with celebrations and special occasions, we can't take credit for creating holidays."
- ^ Steiger, Thomas L. "Thomas Steiger: What is it that we celebrate on Mother’s Day?", Tribune-Star, May 14, 2007. Accessed June 7, 2007. "In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed a bill to recognize Mother’s Day as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May. I thought it was a “Hallmark Holiday.”"
- ^ Lukas, Carrie. "Happy Father's Day!", CBS News, June 18, 2006. Accessed June 7, 2007. "Father’s Day tends to get treated as just another “Hallmark Holiday.” And we have so many: Grandparents Day, Secretary’s (now the more politically correct “Administrative Professional’s”) Day, National Teacher’s Day, Take Your Daughter to Work Day — the list goes on. Yet if ever there was a need for a Hallmark Holiday, Father’s Day is it."
- ^ Caryn James, "For Your Consideration: Sappy Hallmark Moments" New York Times, March 2, 2006
- ^ [1]; "Obama marks 100th day in office", UPI '100 Days in the Footsteps of F.D.R. and L.B.J.", New York Times, 2 May 2009]
[edit] Further reading
- Linda Mooney and Sarah Brabant (1998). "[Off the Rack: Store Bought Emotions and the Presentation of Self". Electronic Journal of Sociology 3 (4]http://www.sociology.org/content/vol003.004/mooney.html).
- Leigh Eric Schmidt (December 1991). "The Commercialization of the Calendar: American Holidays and the Culture of Consumption, 1870-1930". Journal of American History 78 (3): 887–916. doi:.
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