Days are literally driving me mad. The other day I got a call from a PR agency, wanting to know if I was working on a story for May Day and perhaps I could include their clients “vast reportoire” on the same.

I almost fell from the chair and was just about recovering from the May-Day shock that another call sought to know if I needed some insight on Akshay Trithya and gold sales.

That left me wondering, when and how did days become so important that everyone from PR agencies to marketing managers of corporate houses are cashing on them.

Do a random search on the internet and one can find everything from well-known Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Independence Day to World Thrift Day (Oct 30), Diabetes Day (Nov 14), World Sleep Day (Mar 21), International Jokes Day (July 1), World Laughter Day (Jan 10), National Ice cream day (third Sunday of July), Earth Day (April 22), Telecom Day (May 17), Doctor’s Day (July 1), Global Hand Washing Day (Oct 15), World Consumers Day (Mar 15) and so on.

Hence, what started with a genuine interest to commemorate, promote and mobilise certain actions have in fact becoming another money-minting marketing gimmick. Look closely and chances are that you’d find some vested interest taking advantage in the name of a Day.

Retailers and manufacturers both big and small are using such days to boost sales or at least differentiate themselves from the crowd. A popular retail chain has announced a public holiday sale while another brand is advertising Earth Day promotion campaigns.

While a mattress company may promote Sleep Day to surrogate advertise its products, a soap manufacturer can effectively reach out using Global Hand Washing Day. Card companies, soft toy makers, mobile value added services all register a neat jump in sales during popular days. Not surprising that a chunk of budget is reserved especially to promote the big days.

Whether or not customers are convinced to loosen their purse strings or not remains to be seen. But here again I would likely to stress that the only day that gives me a permanent high is a HOLIDAY.

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