Nothing marks the “end” of the summer quite like seeing Halloween—or even Christmas—products appearing on store shelves. And holiday promos and products beginning to show up as early as mid-July is hardly a new phenomenon. For years, shoppers have debated just how early is too early to celebrate the holidays, coining the term “Christmas creep” to describe the way retailers push seasonal goods further and further up the calendar. Brands like Lowe’s have become infamous for lining aisles with Halloween and Christmas decor months in advance—even launching a “halfway to Halloween” sale in April. YPulse recently reported that young people brought back “Summerween,” the Gravity Falls-inspired holiday that kicks off Halloween festivities a season early—which brands are embracing with themed campaigns, special drops, and limited-edition treats.
Meanwhile, major retailers like Walmart and Amazon regularly kick off Black Friday-style promotions as early as October. From a brand’s perspective, extending the holiday season means more time to drive sales and run promotions. But there’s always been a lingering fear around early holiday marketing: push too hard, too soon, and young consumers might roll their eyes—or worse, tune out the campaigns all together.
That’s why for YPulse’s Holiday Shopping Plans survey, we asked how young consumers actually feel about early holiday marketing, specifically how they feel about winter holiday advertising and in-store displays coming out earlier and earlier each year. Our data shows very few 13-39-year-olds actually hate to see the holiday merch months ahead—which suggest brands may not need to worry as much about backlash:
Young adults and Millennials love to see early holiday ads and displays
Many young consumers aren’t rolling their eyes at early holiday ads—in fact, a lot of them welcome it. According to YPulse’s Holiday Shopping Plans report, over half of 18-24-year-olds (53%) and 25-39-year-olds (54%) say they love seeing winter holiday ads and in-store displays coming out earlier and earlier each year. Early ads and in-store displays may actually feel helpful, giving them more time to plan purchases and stretch their budgets over the months. After all, YPulse data shows 58% of young adults (18-24) and 69% of Millennials (25-39) agree, “The current state of the economy / tariffs has made me think about holiday shopping earlier than I usually do.” And a large majority of them (76% of young adults and 82% of Millennials) say they’d appreciate it if brands released holiday deals earlier than Black Friday this year.
It’s also possible those in favor of early holiday marketing are already in the holiday mood. With so many young shoppers leaning into these seasonal mashups (like Summerween!), it makes sense why many are ready for the holidays to arrive sooner rather than later. Plus, who couldn’t use a little holiday joy ahead of time?
Teens don’t care if they see early holiday marketing—but they don’t hate it
For many of those who don’t love the Christmas and Halloween creep, early holiday ads and displays just don’t make much of an impression anymore—especially for teens. YPulse’s Holiday Shopping Plans report shows over half of 13-17-year-olds (52%) say they don’t care if they see winter holiday ads and in-store displays coming out earlier and earlier each year. In fact, teens are +16pts more likely than young adults (36%) and +21pts more than Millennials (31%) to say so. On one hand, we know that teens haven’t fully reached their purchasing power yet, so it’s possible that teens don’t care about holiday marketing because they’re also least likely to be engaged holiday shoppers.
And for those who are considering shopping this holiday season, we also know that it’s already difficult to attract young consumers with traditional marketing: YPulse’s Ad / Marketing Effectiveness report shows 66% of 13-17-year-olds agree, “Advertisements (e.g. commercials, billboards, etc.) usually bore me.” Since this has been true for years, it’s possible the novelty of early displays has simply worn off. Plus, YPulse data also shows that most teen holiday shoppers plan to kick off things in November and December, so early ads might not move that needle regardless.
Very few hate early holiday displays, which is a good sign for brands
That said, there’s little downside for brands starting holiday marketing early. YPulse data shows just 13% of 13-39-year-olds say they hate early winter holiday ads and displays, which means most either welcome them or shrug them off. (And as we said, more likely love it!) For brands, the real opportunity isn’t when brands start advertising, but how. YPulse knows Gen Z and Millennials aren’t anti-advertising—they just want it done well. So, knowing that young consumers are open to early holiday marketing is just the first step. Getting creative with how it’s delivered—whether that’s through social activations or interactive IRL campaigns—is what will actually keep them engaged for this extra-long shopping season.
