ELLLO Views #1348 Single's Day

Rory: Have you heard about Singles Day in China?

Abidemi: No, I'm not really sure. Can you explain what that is about?

Rory: So this is a new holiday that has been created for single people.

Abidemi: Wow!

Rory: And so on this day people don't buy presents for somebody else. They buy presents for themselves. They are celebrating being single, and it's been a huge success. Like the Internet sales have gone through the roof. So I guess companies just look for a time of year where there is maybe no holiday at the moment and try to create a new holiday.

Abidemi: That's an interesting idea. It sounds like something you would do normally anyway, right. We always shop for ourselves, so but, wow!

Rory: I heard actually that Mother's Day -- this might be an urban myth -- but it was created by the Hallmark Card Company in America because there was a gap in the year that people weren't buying cards and so they created this Mother's Day. Everyone's got a mother.

Abidemi: That's true.

Rory: And if they create this Mother's Day, everyone's going to feel obliged to buy a card from them for their mother.

Abidemi: That's true.

Rory: And now it's ... I don't know if it's true.

Abidemi: But I say it's true because I think it's a huge hit in a lot of countries actually, and it's spreading more and more to different countries every year, so these companies are definitely on to something. They know what they're doing.

Rory: Right. So what should we do? I can't boycott Christmas cause I love Christmas too much, but maybe we could boycott some of these other days.

Abidemi: Maybe, or just celebrate it in a way that's less commercialized. I guess we don't always have to buy big things. What about quality time? Spending time with family, with friends and just appreciating them in different ways that we would just think of just shopping or gifts or presents.

Rory: Yeah.

Abidemi: Material things.

Rory: That's a nice idea.

Abidemi: Yeah. I think so. We'll save us some money, definitely, right?