post by Stephanie Nelson
This weekend is Memorial Day. Being in the field I’m in, clients are asking me to post about sales and special hours. I mean, Memorial Day marketing is a big business.
But Memorial Day wasn’t founded on a sense of getting out of work for an extra day. Nor was it founded on where one can find the best deal on summer outfits or grills or the like. So as I’m posting these items for my clients, I’m trying to work in wording that reminds folks that Memorial Day is about remembering those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country. But it’s made me ask myself several times if marketing in all its forms – print, direct mail, social media, search engine, etc – has taken our hearts.
Memorial Day isn’t the only “somber” time that marketing has overtaken the meaning of the day. Pretty much every year, there are posts by fellow marketers regarding how “not right” it is for businesses to be running 9/11 sales. Same type of thing with MLK Day – using a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr to hawk your wares totally misses the point of the holiday and why he’s honored. It even happens with one-time events – Tradesy just tried to cash in on Prince’s death by running a sale on luxury “items as striking as he was.” The list goes on and on.
So I vote that we put our hearts and our feelings back into marketing. Instead of blasting the world with a Memorial Day Sale this week, remind the world that you honor the vets that gave their lives so we can live the lives we lead and have items and services to market! Thank you to all the veterans, past and present, and especially to those that sacrificed their lives for our country.
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