Yesterday was President’s Day, a day set aside to honor and remember past Presidents of the United States. Originally, we celebrated George Washington’s birthday (Feb 22) and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb 12). In 1971 President Richard Nixon proclaimed one single federal public holiday, the Presidents’ Day, to be observed on the third Monday of February, honoring all past presidents of the United States of America.

That’s my history lesson of the week. Now, back to my topic - Holiday Marketing. I have always found it odd how retail businesses use national holidays to offer us special “sales”. Last night I saw a television advertisement by one of the car manufacturers.

The message from the advertisement was that, “in honor of President’s Day”, they were having a special sale. Now, I think that is very patriotic of them. But are they really discounting their MSRP, and did management throw a party or celebration and invite their employees? I’m pretty sure nothing special was done - they simply used the Holiday as part of their marketing strategy. So my question is, does anyone actually see this type of advertisement, then dash out to take advantage of the “sale”, especially since President’s Day only comes once a year?

Am I the only person who thinks this whole idea is just a bit wacko?