n.
The gradual trend to begin displaying Christmas-related merchandise and advertising earlier each year.
Example Citations:
Labor Day, Columbus Day and Halloween, much less Thanksgiving, are now mere speed bumps on the highway to Christmas, folded into the 115-day month of Septoctnocember.
Researchers call it "Christmas creep." That's shorthand for the ever-backward march of the holiday retail season.
—Jeff Gammage, "Already, visions of sugarplums.: Christmas elbows its way into summer," The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 13, 2007
Retailers deploy seasonal displays early to get shoppers in the mood for holiday spending as they build inventory. It's a tactic retail marketers call "Christmas creep."
—Mark Albright, "Halloween creeps up," St. Petersburg Times, Sepember 1, 2006
Earliest Citation:
Way back around Labor Day, grocery stores across the country started displaying 4 million Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal boxes picturing a cuddly character named Santabear. Thus did the bear's promoters herald the 1986 Christmas season and get a jump on Jingle Bear, Bloomie's Bear and Kris Krinkles. ...
Despite Santabear's lovable nature, its September entrance is a symptom of what many view as an unfortunate trend: Christmas creep.
—Martha Groves, "Christmas 'Creep' Foes Can't Buy Its Ever Earlier Start," Los Angeles Times, November 17, 1986
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.