Nine passes left to attend the Digiday Publishing Summit

These days, a holiday doesn’t necessarily have to mark a day of national or religious significance. It can celebrate lemonade, working “like a dog,” and Brazilian blowouts. And there’s the thing: Anyone can declare a “national” holiday. In true American fashion, it’s simply a matter of marketing the hell out of it to make it a reality.
Please, do not confuse National Donut Day with Armed Forces Day. The latter was created by President Harry Truman in 1949 and the former is a marketing schtick promoted by Dunkin Donuts. Although the Congress still votes on commemorative resolutions to recognize certain days on occasion — as it did with Pi Day in 2009 — most remain unofficial.
But that hasn’t stopped marketers from clambering on the bandwagon of ginning up ridiculous holidays for just about every day of the year. There’s National Pancake Day (IHOP), National Underwear Day (skivvies monger Freshpair) and National Pie Day (American Pie Council).
“It can be a really great excuse to have a pillar moment in the year that wouldn’t otherwise exist, but there needs to be an obvious connection with or incentive for the consumer or it comes across as desperate,” said Andrew Cunningham, social marketing lead at digital Huge.
The good news: There’s a made-up holiday, usually with thinly disguised marketing goals, for you to celebrate every day of the month.
More in Marketing

‘Consumers are dying to get out of their houses’: How Cinemark’s CMO is getting people back to the movies
A look at how consumer demand looks in the movie industry and what other retailers can learn from Cinemark’s loyalty and membership programs.

Platform and agency execs recommended must-reads to unwind during busy periods
Senior execs from the likes of TikTok, Snap, OMD USA, Publicis London and more let us in on their favorite page-turners to unwind.

In Graphic Detail: AI adoption increases, but U.S. consumers are still wary
Digiday has charted the rise of generative AI, big tech’s investment into AI as well as agencies’ top use cases and consumer sentiment.