If you feel like Christmas keeps getting earlier every year, we have definitive proof that you’re right.
In news that might seem crazy, people start thinking ahead to Christmas from as early as August 25th, with internet searches creeping up around that time for “Santa Claus”, “elf” and present ideas.
While it all sounds a little mad, the scrooge folk out there will probably be nodding along right about now…
According to data analyst Nathan Cunningham, published on i100, Christmas related Google searches has sky-rocketed over the past six years, with people using the resource to hunt out the best buys earlier every year.
From the year the study initially began in November 2007, the Royal Statistical Society can now pin point “Christmas” turns into a key concern and query for shoppers.
Releasing the results, Cunningham found there was a pretty notable gap between year one (where the calendar for Christmas kicked off from November 11th) to August 19th in 2012.
Intrigued how the in-between years fared?
Christmas’ unofficial start date cropped up on October 12th in 2008, August 30th in 2009, before taking a slight backseat for 2010 and 2011 with October 3rd and September 11th respectively.
However, research was quick to point out that for the past two years, the Christmas countdown began as of August 19th and 25th.
While no obvious answer was attributed to the early start, researchers argue that savings in times of recession, planning for Santa toys, or booking flights to return home during times of emigration could have forced the holiday season into the summer months.
No wonder how, for some, it’s the never ending holiday.
