Why didn’t we celebrate Father’s Day earlier this month with the US and the UK?

THERE is a weird reason why everyone else in the world celebrates Father’s Day in June but ours doesn’t roll around until September.

IF YOU jumped on social media earlier this month and saw most of your favourite celebrities enjoying Father’s Day, you might’ve had a split second panic attack about missing the day.

But you shouldn’t have worried because we don’t celebrate the day until September.

When it comes to most of the world, including the US and the UK, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June — we celebrate it on September 3 this year.

Father’s Day started in the US in 1910 and was first celebrated in Australia in 1936, according to an archived newspaper article which lists it as “a new day”.

While our Mother’s Day celebration lines up with most of the world in May, Father’s Day is a full three months after countries we share the most similarities with — and there’s a pretty simple explanation.

All of the calendar days we celebrate throughout the year all come down to the marketing and retail sector.

Naomi Watts pays tribute to her ex Liev Schreiber on Instagram for US Father's Day.

HOLIDAY FATIGUE

There’s a theory described as “holiday fatigue” where experts claim consumers grow tired of constantly being bombarded with holidays and need a little time to recover — a theory that only helps Father’s Day’s September placement.

When considering the months of April to June, the Australian calendar is full of special events and holidays.

There’s the Easter long weekend, Anzac Day and the Queen’s Birthday. We also celebrate Mother’s Day and the lesser known Labour Day and May Day.

Just like Boxing Day on December 26, marketing and retail companies have perfectly orchestrated days to get us out and shopping for gifts.

While some dispute the claims, it’s easy to see how happily retailers embrace each holiday.

As soon as Christmas is over, stores line their shelves with Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs.

Woolworths and Coles come under fire every January when shoppers spot the grocery stores filling their bakery shelves with hot cross buns — a baked good traditionally made for Easter.

Woolworths and Coles stock hot cross buns as early as January. Picture: Jono Searle

Managing director of Red Communication Paul Ryan spoke to Network Tenabout the backlash, saying “holiday fatigue is a very real thing”.

“It is impossible for a human being to maintain the excitement of Christmas and all that means to them and their loved ones for a four month lead up with everything else going on in their lives. Six weeks maybe not but 16 weeks,” he said.

THE ‘CONVENIENCE’ OF FATHER’S DAY

Father’s Day being held in September is not only conveniently far away from most Australian calendar dates, it also coincides with the start of Spring — the perfect season to market dad gifts like sporting, camping and fishing items.

While there’s no denying the date of Father’s Day seems all too convenient, one of Australia’s leading consumer psychologists and the founder of THINKERBELL Adam Ferrier believes it comes down to exactly that — convenience.

“I can’t imagine it being that strategic. I think it’s fortuitous for Father’s Day that it falls in the third quarter of the year because not a lot seems to be happening at that time so it’s a pretty free part of the calendar,” he told news.com.au.

Traditional dad gifts like fishing rods are easier to market in Spring. Picture: Al McGlashan

And despite Mr Ferrier disputing the theory around Father’s Day being placed in September by marketers, he did agree the growth of the day has come from marketing and retailers.

“Father’s Day and Mother’s Day and any other kind of calendar event kind of feel like they’re all becoming much more eagerly anticipated by marketers because of such a need for content now, there’s such a need for them to always be in market and for them to be always communicating something about their brand,” he said.

It’s that exact need for content that is driving these days to become bigger and bigger.

“Marketers sees calendar events as an opportunity to communicate what their brand stands for in a way to get attention. The more each brand individually does this, the bigger the event on the calendar becomes and then the more brands get involved so it kind of becomes like a virtual circle,” Mr Ferrier added.

FATHER’S DAY ISN’T THE ONLY ONE

While it’s easy to blame Father’s Day for being a victim of marketing strategies, it definitely isn’t the only calendar date that retailers have embraced.

April Fool’s Day, held on April 1, is becoming more and more popular with brands who are using the day to have a laugh with their customers.

Today we are excited to unleash our new Virgin Australia Canine Crew in a world first initiative. pic.twitter.com/d1GCIbd3qG

— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) March 31, 2017

And Christmas is the biggest example — with retailers like UK Department store John Lewis redefining what it means to make a Christmas ad.

“Christmas is a marketing construct where marketers got together and tried to build off the date in the calendar and made it massive,” Mr Ferrier said.

And when days like Father’s and Mother’s Day are compared to the mammoth lead-up to Christmas and Easter it’s easy to see why marketers are slowly starting to embrace the calendar events a bit more.

“So far, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day have both been handled pretty badly by marketers and retail alike,” Mr Ferrier said.

“They don’t stand for much. They’re pretty weak, feeble brands. I think for Father’s Day it’s a great opportunity for advertisers and marketers but I think we’re in the process of embracing it. The marketing for Father’s Day in the near future is going to explode,” he added.

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