Is Father's Day a Scam?

Those of you who are allergic to cynicism are best advised to stop reading right now. There are many who sincerely celebrate holidays like Father's Day and derive happiness from it. That is wonderful. However, one should step back and ponder its existence along with a slew of other ones just like it.

Holidays like Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Secretary's Week, Boss Hour, etc are all relatively new creations. What prompted the myriad such holidays to be devised over the past decades? Was there a dearth of love for fathers, mothers and sweethearts? I think not. These holidays did not arise from a ground swell of demand or interest. They were created by a table full of shrewd marketing execs on Madison Avenue.

Think about what would happen to sales of flowers without Valentine's Day. The greeting industry would similarly be thrown into bankruptcy without these holidays as well. Billions of dollars are spent on greeting cards, flowers, restaurant outings on an annual basis as society dictates the "correct" behavior on a given day. Society actually being certain industries and their associated marketing and PR professionals. Do we love our parents any more on a given day than usual? Are flowers given on a day which is expected any more than a token as compared to unprompted expressions of love?

Historically, in Japan there were no diamonds associated with engagement or wedding rings. The diamond industry decided this was unacceptable. Around a half a century ago the diamond industry (Eg De beers) began to flood Japan with a marketing campaign with the motif that real men give diamonds. Anything less is an indication one is not truly a man. This campaign obviously had great effect and quickly changed long held Japanese customs. Today, Japanese women expect a diamond just as American women do.

This same process has been used to devise and inculcate behavior here domestically on a growing number of days of the year. Eventually, each day will be dedicated as a holiday to some group or another. The greeting card industry might need daily holidays to combat sales lost to online cards which will only grow with time as the "interactive demographic" becomes a larger and larger percent of the population.

Honoring parents, secretaries, etc is fine and great. Just realize that when you do it on a specific day while being compelled to purchase a specific item to facilitate that celebration you are being scammed by Madison Avenue. You are deprived of your own choice of picking when and how to celebrate these given relationships. Madison Avenue just wants to ensure everyone participates and revenue is maximized. Making each ritual occur on a given day makes it easier to enforce and plan for the production cycle. Your emotions are being used as a business planning implement.