A Horse is a Horse of Course, of Course

The old saying, ‘You can’t beat (or flog) a dead horse’ is credited to an 1867 British Politician, namely John Bright. It mostly translates to a hopeless issue, and is still with us almost 150 years later. Not my main point, but interesting how certain phrases just live on.

My point today is, the blandness of Holiday retail advertising. I mean, come on, how is it that every year, every store has a 50% off sale at Christmas? Of course  the marketing strategy is clear, and I realize most Holidays bring some sort of sale, but look around, hard to find a store that isn’t advertising 50% off at least something in December.

So my question is, are we all that stupid? As consumers, aren’t they just ‘beating the dead horse’ every year? (Which is far more acceptable than beating a live horse).

You could think about this in a few ways. One would be, shouldn’t I just wait until December to buy everything, because it is gonna be half what I would pay any other time of year? Another way would be to consider the fact that the stores are actually losing money and need your business that desperately.

Of course both lines of thinking are incorrect. It is just simply a way to get you into a particular store. That’s it. Not complicated, not based on inventory or special deals from their supply chain. Simply get you into the store. Not to say you might not find a good deal here or there, but that is the strategy.

I am just a little bored with it. I mean, can’t we get a little more creative? Maybe Santa crashes and a bunch of stray Squinkies ended up in the parking lot? And yes, Squinkies are one of the hot toys this year. Or maybe Your Presence is Needed for our Presents? Foreign Dissatisfied Elf Faction Sweat Shop creates incredible supply? I don’t know, just anything different? Maybe add a little creativity to the equation instead of a bold font and 50% OFF!

I would love to see that. It would truly be a horse of a different color.