Fall/Autumn USA: The best pumpkin flavored marketing

I was unreasonably disappointed to read this Guardian article today that says Pumpkin Spice Lattes have reached the UK.

I admit I didn't read the 122 comments on the CiF article

You see, in the USA, the usual holidays aren't the only marketing themes. Everything has a marketing theme.

In rural America people don't just decorate their homes for Halloween or Christmas. People decorate their homes for any occasion or season. You'll see spring and Easter wreathes, Fall and Halloween wreathes, Christmas or winter wreathes. You'll see patriotic flags up from July 4th to Labor Day. You'll see reflections of different religious and political beliefs in every corner all year round.

I love it because it reflects the diversity in the faiths and backgrounds of people in the US, combined with a uniquely American patriotism.

This year in the UK was wonderfully different because of the Jubilee and the Olympics. Usually houses are bare until Halloween and Christmas, when even non-Christians decorate their homes with lights and trees and the like.

America, predictably, does it all bigger and better. I think this is partly because of the deep-rooted capitalism in the USA. It's the heart of American history. Any occasion or event can be captured by purchasing a Hallmark card or an item of home decor. I've seen Happy Halloween cards on sale for children to give to - who?

But I think it also represents a closeness to nature and the changing seasons. My American friends are all on hopeful hold right now, asking "Is it Fall yet?". The place I volunteer had an unfamiliar scent wafting through the offices which I later identified as a pumpkin spice candle. Mr has been wearing heavy plaid shirts for a week now, willing the cooler air to breeze.

It's still warm and humid. It's not October yet. But the leaves are changing, and the stores are ready with this, until recently, uniquely American tradition, pumpkin flavored marketing:

A single trip to Walmart was a great source of amusement for this British lady, and it's not even October yet. The best of Fall is yet to come. But if the UK gets pumpkin spice marketing too, what will I write home about? Isn't Germany's Apple Crumble Latte much more fitting for the UK at any rate?

Send me your favorite pumpkin spice marketing. Next week the Fall fests start, so I'm determined to have pumpkin themed posts for the whole of October.