halloween

this has always seemed to be one of the "second-rate" holidays of the year. more than anything, halloween has always seemed to be a necessary marker on the road to the "true" holiday season of thanksgiving, christmas, and new year's. however, in recent years it seems that halloween has been attempting to make a move to into the celebratory limelight, a move which certainly makes econmic sense.

halloween, like most other holidays, has become a cash cow for the american economy, and with proper marketing, it posesses the potential to rival christmas for profit margins. think about it: billions of consumer goods are manufactured for one day's worth of usage. a list: 1. decor. the season to have them up is a couple of weeks at most. yet, some people put up as many pieces of decor for this one holiday as they do for the entire month of december. and much of the decorations are cheaply made and designed to only last one year: fake spider webs, window clings, pumpkins, etc.

2. costumes. millions of people dress in stupid costumes on this day. many people may wear the same christmas sweater year in and year out, but find it customary - even necessary - to have different costumes each year. likewise, parents everywhere are buying cheap plastic outfits of current cartoon superheros that will be lucky to last through tonight, much less an entire year. and even if they do, they will not fit the child any more, or they will not want the same costume. the costume craze benefits other sectors of the retail industry as well, for certainly the existance of the "party store" centers on the halloween holiday. masks, capes, rented wigs, fake blood, excessively expensive (yet cheap) makeup, etc. - all for this one day.

3. candy. trillions of pieces of sugary goodness being devoured just moments after aquisition - what could exemplify the american society more than our drive to consume candy? the goal of the holiday for most children is to take in as much of the product as they can, so that they can consume more of it than their peers. in doing so, they are not only falling prey to american consumerism, but also to the american tradition of growing a huge ass.

4. alcohol. probably not as big of a deal as some of the summer holidays, but if you're like me, it's going to take some decent amount of booze to get me feeling comfortble in whatever ridiculous costume i've created during the afternoon.


photos from this forum on fark.com.