Cost of living5:47When Christ Meets Consumerism
Although its origins are religious, you probably know the advent calendar as the humble grocery store product in which the chocolate is hidden behind 24 pegboard doors.
This sweet countdown to Christmas began in the 1950s when the first versions of chocolate appeared on the scene. Cadbury began mass marketing them in 1971 as a tool to attract children to the Christian tradition of Advent, says Canadian marketing expert Robert Warren, who closely follows Christmas trends.
“What we're seeing now is that it's become extremely commercialized,” said Warren, who now teaches marketing at the University of North Dakota. in Grand Forks.
Today, you can buy an advent calendar containing almost any product you can imagine, from Lego to whiskey, from ice cream to jewelry, from sex toys to fishing lures. The excitement is fueled by influencers whose TikTok videos show them unboxing luxury advent calendars with jaw-dropping prices, such as this one from Dior, which costs $11,000.
WATCH: Influencer Unboxes C$11,000 Advent Calendar.
Warren told Cost of living It's part of a pattern known as the “Christmas creep,” where businesses start selling holiday-related items earlier and earlier in the year so consumers end up spending more money.
“What you're seeing is all these different brands starting to look for ways to reach customers early in the Christmas season, and the advent calendar has become an easy way to do that,” Warren said.
In addition, he said, young consumers appreciate the opportunity to discover something new every day.
That's certainly the case for Maya Warwick Brunel, 26, of Montreal. Her mom moved to Vancouver, but for the past three years she has sent her an advent calendar—Bonne Maman with 24 tiny jars of jam—and received one for herself.
Although they won't be together for Christmas, the advent calendar gives them a chance to stay connected through their shared love of jam. And they both enjoy reusing glass jars.
The retail price is about $60, which is a far cry from the Dior calendar and even further from the Tiffany jewelry version, which reportedly costs $112,000.
“It’s a nice little treat every day,” Warwick Brunel said.
Limited editions attract attention
Some of these treats include limited-edition jams that are only available once a year, which is “a very typical marketing tactic,” said Lily Lin, an assistant professor of marketing at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.
This sends the message that “if you lose, you might regret it,” Lin said. “If it's widely available, it's not as exclusive.”
But there's a different marketing psychology behind it, she says.
“In many ways it is the anticipation of some event. study showing how sometimes even the anticipation of an event or the planning of an event can be more exciting than the event itself. So I think the advent calendar, the countdown, kind of plays a role in that.”
This is partly due to Generation Z and younger consumers, Lin said.
“You've probably heard that very young consumers are getting into cosmetics and personal care, and it's quite an interesting trend,” she said. This is fueled by a mountain of social media content about these product categories, she says, which may explain why your 11-year-old needs a $127 Sephora advent calendar.
“I will say it’s quite a challenge right now because of the economy and the hardships people are going through,” Lin said. “So it's one thing for younger consumers to want these products, but on the other hand it's a financial burden.”
Christine Lahn, a Montreal-based content creator whose “reducing influence” videos offer tips on how to live more economically and sustainably, notes that the online lives of young people have changed social comparison.
“Growing up, we had no one to compare ourselves to other than our neighbors or people who live in the same social class as us,” said Lan, who is also a mother of two teenagers. “But now, thanks to social media, you know, a 12-year-old can see Paris Hilton or the Kardashians consuming so many things and they want the same thing.”
Certified financial planner Shannon Lee Simmons said Electric current social media has “increased what we consider normal, such as financial dysmorphia.”
Great impact on wallets and the environment
And while the idea of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on an advent calendar at first glance sounds in direct opposition to the affordability crisis that has affected so many Canadians, Lan says she thinks the two may be related.
“Since everything is so expensive and most young people can't afford to buy houses now, I think with the income they have, they'll probably spend on a luxury item because it's more achievable for them,” Lan said.
The impact on landfills is also a concern for her, given that advent calendars contain a lot of packaging for a relatively small number of products.
“Environmental Impact [this] Overconsumption is terrible.”
