June 5, 2024
Happy Everything, What We Get Wrong About Holiday Messaging
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That Solo Life, Episode 252: Happy Everything, What We Get Wrong About Holiday MessagingIn this Episode
In this episode of "That Solo Life," co-hosts Karen Swim and Michelle Kane reflect on Memorial Day and discuss the importance of thoughtful messaging around holidays. Michelle and Karen discuss the post-Memorial Day weekend vibes and the common trend of using "happy" in front of every holiday, including somber ones like Memorial Day.
The hosts discuss the need for more conscientious messaging, honoring the historical context of holidays. Karen and Michelle reflect on the role of PR professionals in preserving the spirit of important holidays and their role in protecting the essence of celebrations beyond commercialization. They reflect on how holidays like St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo have been reduced to mere drinking festivities, losing sight of their cultural significance.
This episode serves as a poignant reminder to PR professionals and marketers to approach holiday messaging with sensitivity, respect, and a deeper understanding of the historical and cultural significance behind each celebration. Through their insightful discussion, Michelle and Karen underscore the importance of upholding traditions and honoring the true meaning of holidays in our communications.
Episode Timeline:
00:00:00 - Introduction and Discussion on Memorial Day Messaging
00:05:30 - Importance of Honoring Fallen Soldiers
00:08:06 - Examples of Proper Memorial Day Messaging
00:09:20 - Call to Action for PR Professionals to Protect Holiday Celebrations
00:10:45 - Discussion on St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo Traditions
00:11:18 - Reminder for Considerate Fourth of July Celebrations
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That Solo Life, Episode 252 - Happy Everything, What We Get Wrong About Holiday Messaging
Michelle Kane [00:02]-[00:17]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. How are you today?
Karen Swim, APR [00:17]-[00:20]: Hi, Michelle. I'm doing good. How are you?
Michelle Kane [00:20]-[01:18]: Yeah, I can't complain. We're in the, we're past the unofficial kickoff of summer. We all have Memorial Day weekend under our belts, so that was kind of nice to have a little three-day weekend, which has its own interesting things happening. The three-day weekend isn't ever really fully time off, but that's okay. That's all right. We have, we enjoy a lot of other freedoms, but, um, but that's kind of what we wanted to talk about today. And I know this might seem old hat, but it's always good to have a reminder of, um, you know, especially those of us who might do social media or other campaigns for clients, how you reference these different holidays, right? because you know how many of us have seen the happy memorial day sale and it's like it's not exactly a happy holiday you know it's all a holiday
Karen Swim, APR [01:18]-[02:11]: It's so true. And I think it's so ingrained in us to put happy before any holiday that we're not thoughtful about it. And in the past, I will fully admit that I, too, have been guilty of just defaulting to that. Sure. But I've become really conscientious and offering something different and, you know, gently correcting people and saying, you know, may we never forget or honoring the fallen because it is a somber holiday. And, you know, listen, have your barbecue, enjoy the extra day off work. But these are Americans that gave our lives for our country. And I just this year in particular, I saw so many things that were so problematic in how this holiday was acknowledged.
Michelle Kane [02:12]-[03:14]: Oh boy. Yeah. I mean, it's like you say, it's, it's so, I don't know if the easy is the word, but we're so attuned to the fact that woohoo, it's a day off. Yay, it's happy, which I understand. I do understand. And we have, especially regarding military service, we have several holidays throughout the year. And I'm not saying anyone, no one's a bad person if they meld them together between Veterans Day, which is for the living, and Memorial Day, which is for the fallen. And then, of course, we have Armed Forces Day, which we don't really formally celebrate with a day off or anything, and all those in between. And of course, July 4th is the big party day. And it's not to say I am 99.9% sure that everyone who says happy Memorial Day is, of course, grateful for those who literally gave everything.
Karen Swim, APR [03:15]-[04:46]: I want to believe that that's true but you know it's interesting as you were saying that, in some ways, I wonder if familiarity has diluted the respect that we have for the military so I. I know that in other countries, for example, they're not allowed to wear their uniforms outside of service. And they're not, in some countries, you can't wear camouflage, even if it's camouflage, normal clothing. Here, it's a fashion statement and a trend. You know, we have we put colors to it, and we wear camouflage. And in other countries, that is absolutely banned because only the military are allowed to wear that pattern. So because here, unlike other countries, people walk around all the time with their military hats, and they have patches, and they have bumper stickers on their cars, and they have military-looking wear, I wonder if we forget that this day truly is a day where there are still families that are grieving because they have lost loved ones in war, in combat, sometimes in peacetime, because let us not forget that people do die in peacetime. And we just see it as another three day holiday because we are not so cognizant of the role that the military truly plays in our protection of our freedoms.
Michelle Kane [04:47]-[06:07]: Yeah, you make an excellent point. I mean, I even catch myself, you know, because you do, if you see someone wearing a ball cap with, you know, stating where they served, you like to say, thank you. Yes. And sometimes I have to stop myself and go, Whoa, wait, you know, thank that person or even, you know, Oh, what did I see? It was a clip. It was a, I want to say it was a high ranking official in the Marines and it was when he was younger. I forget if it was during Vietnam. It was one of our conflicts, our wars. And he went to visit the family, the parents of one of his fallen fellow service members. And they wanted him to stay for dinner so badly. And he's like, no, no, no, you know, I don't want to impose, I don't want to move on. And with maturity, he realized they want to talk about their son with him. And, and I think actually my point being his piece of advice is if you're speaking to someone who, um, has someone who they've lost either in battle or during a training exercise, just ask them about their loved one because they would love to keep them alive by talking about them. And I thought that was so, such a great piece of advice.
Karen Swim, APR [06:09]-[07:12]: Yeah, I agree. It brings to mind, though, that as communicators, I'm sure that any company that's represented with professional communicators, they're going to get the messaging right around this holiday, but there are so many other companies that get it wrong. From a marketing perspective, marketers get this wrong year after year after year. You get Memorial Day sales, but you really don't get much about why we really are off because it's not about shopping and barbecues. We just have turned it into such a happy occasion, and there's no way to spend this one. I'm sorry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you really cannot spend this holiday into something that's happy and joyful. It is not at all. You made a good point when we were talking about this episode. It's like saying, happy day of atonement.
Michelle Kane [07:17]-[08:05]: Oh, wait, this isn't the happy one. Oh, I'm sorry. My bad. Yeah. It's like, you really have to think it through. And, you know, one of my clients is a car dealer and I'm so proud of them because they don't, they don't like to take that tacky attack of, you know, we are, our messaging is, for them is, yes, we're closed on Memorial Day, you know, in honor of the fallen. And so our employees can have a nice day off, you know, and just take a rest and reflect and remember. So I'm happy on that front for them. And, you know, because certainly in that realm, you certainly could schlock it up. But I'm grateful that they do not carry themselves that way.
Karen Swim, APR [08:06]-[09:58]: I got a million emails and I was off work and I wasn't looking at them. very much, but I got one, exactly one email that actually honored the fallen soldiers. And shout out to Glacier Peak Holistics for sending a message that said, we express gratitude for the bravery of the fallen American soldiers, wishing everyone a Memorial Day filled with reflection and appreciation for our heroes. That was it. There was no sell. There was no use this coupon code, none of that. And it was beautiful and it was so refreshing. And, you know, I don't often think about, you know, PR professionals play so many roles, but it occurs to me that we also are protectors of the culture and protectors of our history and making sure that we keep the important things alive, which gives us a little bit of a historian role. Because as we are helping our clients to message things, we're also reinforcing the importance of particular traditions that we have. And PR pros, I'm looking for you to step up on Juneteenth because that holiday is already being decimated. And we've got to step it up for all of the other big occasions and make sure that we protect the spirit of the celebrations. I mean, In some ways, I feel like we've lost the war on St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo. But I think if we organize now, we have a shot next year at at least bringing some balance back to what those things really mean.
Michelle Kane [09:58]-[10:10]: I think actually this year with Cinco de Mayo, I saw a couple of posts saying, do you know the real history of this day? It's not about this. It's actually about that. And everyone's just like, Margarita!
Karen Swim, APR [10:12]-[10:27]: Yes. So we reduce St. Patrick's Day to green beer and drink until you cannot walk. And Cinco de Mayo is tequila day or margarita day. And yeah, it's that.
Michelle Kane [10:27]-[10:38]: Yeah. And I, I can't speak for every Irish American, but I, I mean, it's certainly in Ireland, it's not the slosh fest.
Karen Swim, APR [10:38]-[10:45]: There's a little bit of a clue in the name. It's St. Patrick's day.
Michelle Kane [10:45]-[11:07]: I said Patrick. And it is, it's funny. I mean, I cringe when I see the Aaron express buses going around Philly that weekend prior. I'm like, Oh no, here are the annoying people. Get out of my dark pub. Yeah. I want to be alone.
Karen Swim, APR [11:07]-[11:29]: It's true. Well, we have a lot of other holidays coming up this summer and some of them are fun. They are. Yeah. And add to the celebration of it all. Fourth of July is a celebratory holiday. So have a good time. Watch those fireworks because some of us have dogs and babies and people with PTSD.
Michelle Kane [11:29]-[11:39]: That's a big one. That is a big one. Yeah, I forget where I saw, but I think there might be coming up with silent fireworks. I don't know if that's going to be a thing or not.
Karen Swim, APR [11:39]-[11:47]: Oh, I would go here for it. Love it. Experimenting. Let's have that silent disco, silent fireworks.
Michelle Kane [11:47]-[12:21]: I'm all in. Yes, that is our next big holiday. So we'll all get that one right for sure. But We hope you've got some value in our time together today. It's just sometimes it's nice to reset and remind ourselves, you know, and, and I love Karen, what you said about us being, you know, at the forefront of, of setting and maintaining these norms. That's so important. So we hope you got value out of our time together today. If you did, please share us around, please review the podcast, hit us up at soloprpro.com. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.
Michelle Kane [00:02]-[00:17]: Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. How are you today?
Karen Swim, APR [00:17]-[00:20]: Hi, Michelle. I'm doing good. How are you?
Michelle Kane [00:20]-[01:18]: Yeah, I can't complain. We're in the, we're past the unofficial kickoff of summer. We all have Memorial Day weekend under our belts, so that was kind of nice to have a little three-day weekend, which has its own interesting things happening. The three-day weekend isn't ever really fully time off, but that's okay. That's all right. We have, we enjoy a lot of other freedoms, but, um, but that's kind of what we wanted to talk about today. And I know this might seem old hat, but it's always good to have a reminder of, um, you know, especially those of us who might do social media or other campaigns for clients, how you reference these different holidays, right? because you know how many of us have seen the happy memorial day sale and it's like it's not exactly a happy holiday you know it's all a holiday
Karen Swim, APR [01:18]-[02:11]: It's so true. And I think it's so ingrained in us to put happy before any holiday that we're not thoughtful about it. And in the past, I will fully admit that I, too, have been guilty of just defaulting to that. Sure. But I've become really conscientious and offering something different and, you know, gently correcting people and saying, you know, may we never forget or honoring the fallen because it is a somber holiday. And, you know, listen, have your barbecue, enjoy the extra day off work. But these are Americans that gave our lives for our country. And I just this year in particular, I saw so many things that were so problematic in how this holiday was acknowledged.
Michelle Kane [02:12]-[03:14]: Oh boy. Yeah. I mean, it's like you say, it's, it's so, I don't know if the easy is the word, but we're so attuned to the fact that woohoo, it's a day off. Yay, it's happy, which I understand. I do understand. And we have, especially regarding military service, we have several holidays throughout the year. And I'm not saying anyone, no one's a bad person if they meld them together between Veterans Day, which is for the living, and Memorial Day, which is for the fallen. And then, of course, we have Armed Forces Day, which we don't really formally celebrate with a day off or anything, and all those in between. And of course, July 4th is the big party day. And it's not to say I am 99.9% sure that everyone who says happy Memorial Day is, of course, grateful for those who literally gave everything.
Karen Swim, APR [03:15]-[04:46]: I want to believe that that's true but you know it's interesting as you were saying that, in some ways, I wonder if familiarity has diluted the respect that we have for the military so I. I know that in other countries, for example, they're not allowed to wear their uniforms outside of service. And they're not, in some countries, you can't wear camouflage, even if it's camouflage, normal clothing. Here, it's a fashion statement and a trend. You know, we have we put colors to it, and we wear camouflage. And in other countries, that is absolutely banned because only the military are allowed to wear that pattern. So because here, unlike other countries, people walk around all the time with their military hats, and they have patches, and they have bumper stickers on their cars, and they have military-looking wear, I wonder if we forget that this day truly is a day where there are still families that are grieving because they have lost loved ones in war, in combat, sometimes in peacetime, because let us not forget that people do die in peacetime. And we just see it as another three day holiday because we are not so cognizant of the role that the military truly plays in our protection of our freedoms.
Michelle Kane [04:47]-[06:07]: Yeah, you make an excellent point. I mean, I even catch myself, you know, because you do, if you see someone wearing a ball cap with, you know, stating where they served, you like to say, thank you. Yes. And sometimes I have to stop myself and go, Whoa, wait, you know, thank that person or even, you know, Oh, what did I see? It was a clip. It was a, I want to say it was a high ranking official in the Marines and it was when he was younger. I forget if it was during Vietnam. It was one of our conflicts, our wars. And he went to visit the family, the parents of one of his fallen fellow service members. And they wanted him to stay for dinner so badly. And he's like, no, no, no, you know, I don't want to impose, I don't want to move on. And with maturity, he realized they want to talk about their son with him. And, and I think actually my point being his piece of advice is if you're speaking to someone who, um, has someone who they've lost either in battle or during a training exercise, just ask them about their loved one because they would love to keep them alive by talking about them. And I thought that was so, such a great piece of advice.
Karen Swim, APR [06:09]-[07:12]: Yeah, I agree. It brings to mind, though, that as communicators, I'm sure that any company that's represented with professional communicators, they're going to get the messaging right around this holiday, but there are so many other companies that get it wrong. From a marketing perspective, marketers get this wrong year after year after year. You get Memorial Day sales, but you really don't get much about why we really are off because it's not about shopping and barbecues. We just have turned it into such a happy occasion, and there's no way to spend this one. I'm sorry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you really cannot spend this holiday into something that's happy and joyful. It is not at all. You made a good point when we were talking about this episode. It's like saying, happy day of atonement.
Michelle Kane [07:17]-[08:05]: Oh, wait, this isn't the happy one. Oh, I'm sorry. My bad. Yeah. It's like, you really have to think it through. And, you know, one of my clients is a car dealer and I'm so proud of them because they don't, they don't like to take that tacky attack of, you know, we are, our messaging is, for them is, yes, we're closed on Memorial Day, you know, in honor of the fallen. And so our employees can have a nice day off, you know, and just take a rest and reflect and remember. So I'm happy on that front for them. And, you know, because certainly in that realm, you certainly could schlock it up. But I'm grateful that they do not carry themselves that way.
Karen Swim, APR [08:06]-[09:58]: I got a million emails and I was off work and I wasn't looking at them. very much, but I got one, exactly one email that actually honored the fallen soldiers. And shout out to Glacier Peak Holistics for sending a message that said, we express gratitude for the bravery of the fallen American soldiers, wishing everyone a Memorial Day filled with reflection and appreciation for our heroes. That was it. There was no sell. There was no use this coupon code, none of that. And it was beautiful and it was so refreshing. And, you know, I don't often think about, you know, PR professionals play so many roles, but it occurs to me that we also are protectors of the culture and protectors of our history and making sure that we keep the important things alive, which gives us a little bit of a historian role. Because as we are helping our clients to message things, we're also reinforcing the importance of particular traditions that we have. And PR pros, I'm looking for you to step up on Juneteenth because that holiday is already being decimated. And we've got to step it up for all of the other big occasions and make sure that we protect the spirit of the celebrations. I mean, In some ways, I feel like we've lost the war on St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo. But I think if we organize now, we have a shot next year at at least bringing some balance back to what those things really mean.
Michelle Kane [09:58]-[10:10]: I think actually this year with Cinco de Mayo, I saw a couple of posts saying, do you know the real history of this day? It's not about this. It's actually about that. And everyone's just like, Margarita!
Karen Swim, APR [10:12]-[10:27]: Yes. So we reduce St. Patrick's Day to green beer and drink until you cannot walk. And Cinco de Mayo is tequila day or margarita day. And yeah, it's that.
Michelle Kane [10:27]-[10:38]: Yeah. And I, I can't speak for every Irish American, but I, I mean, it's certainly in Ireland, it's not the slosh fest.
Karen Swim, APR [10:38]-[10:45]: There's a little bit of a clue in the name. It's St. Patrick's day.
Michelle Kane [10:45]-[11:07]: I said Patrick. And it is, it's funny. I mean, I cringe when I see the Aaron express buses going around Philly that weekend prior. I'm like, Oh no, here are the annoying people. Get out of my dark pub. Yeah. I want to be alone.
Karen Swim, APR [11:07]-[11:29]: It's true. Well, we have a lot of other holidays coming up this summer and some of them are fun. They are. Yeah. And add to the celebration of it all. Fourth of July is a celebratory holiday. So have a good time. Watch those fireworks because some of us have dogs and babies and people with PTSD.
Michelle Kane [11:29]-[11:39]: That's a big one. That is a big one. Yeah, I forget where I saw, but I think there might be coming up with silent fireworks. I don't know if that's going to be a thing or not.
Karen Swim, APR [11:39]-[11:47]: Oh, I would go here for it. Love it. Experimenting. Let's have that silent disco, silent fireworks.
Michelle Kane [11:47]-[12:21]: I'm all in. Yes, that is our next big holiday. So we'll all get that one right for sure. But We hope you've got some value in our time together today. It's just sometimes it's nice to reset and remind ourselves, you know, and, and I love Karen, what you said about us being, you know, at the forefront of, of setting and maintaining these norms. That's so important. So we hope you got value out of our time together today. If you did, please share us around, please review the podcast, hit us up at soloprpro.com. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.