Easter is being increasingly commercialized, with merchandisers hoping to make the holiday second only to Christmas for gift- and toy-buying, according to the New York Times (April 13).
While the “commercialization of Easter has a long way to go before it comes close to matching the Christmas frenzy, toymakers are finding the spring holiday as a desirable time to launch new products, both as a test for Christmas and to create a new market. As David Niggli of F.A.O. Schwarz says, “I think people are making Easter a gift-giving season.”
Some products, such as stuffed animals, card games and craft supplies already have their best sales for the first half of the year right before Easter, according to the marketing firm NDP. Writer Julian Barnes adds that whether the toymakers will “succeed is unclear, but parents beware: advertisements for new toys in the spring could lead to demands not just for chocolate eggs and jelly beans but for electronic clams and robots as well.”