It’s the time of the year when my inbox gets swamped by emails promoting fall sales and advice to prepare and stock up for winter. There seems to be an assumption by almost every advertiser that either:
- the seasons are the same world over, or
- there is nothing south of the equator.
I appreciate that around 57% of the world’s population live north of the Tropic of Cancer where it is indeed autumn (or fall if you prefer). I don’t begrudge you receiving promotional material reflecting the season.
However, there’s a little over 40% of the world’s population that live between the tropic of Cancer than the Tropic of Capricorn for whom there are no seasons. For them, seasonal advertising is more or less irrelevant.
That leaves a little under 3% of the world’s population who live south of the Tropic of Capricorn and for whom the seasons are the polar opposite of what it is for a majority of this planet’s human population. Seasonal advertising is always either six months too early or six months too late.
Consider this: There are approximately twice as many people who belong to the LGBTQ+ community as there are who live south of the Tropic of Capricorn. We have our rights too. And this includes appropriate seasonal advertising.
Another Spectrum 
1 Oct, 2020 at 7:40 pm
I feel you on this. I think these marketers should at least try to know their audience
3 Oct, 2020 at 12:02 pm
You made me want to look. Most of Queensland is in the tropics, though not Brisbane. The tropic passes through Namibia, and the northern tip of Argentina. 3%. Wow.
But, yeah. If they are advertising, what sort of Fall (or Autumn) stuff are they advertising? How much would it cost to ship to NZ? Do they know where NZ is?
4 Oct, 2020 at 5:06 pm
Just about everything imaginable that could potentially be promoted at the end of summer (end of season clear outs) to preparing for winter, but especially clothing, automotive products and D.I.Y. products and services.
Shopping to NZ is always expensive. Before the wife obtained her Kindle, she bought paperback books regularly from Japan. Typically the shipping costs were 2 – 3 times more than the actual price of the books.
As to whether or not they know where NZ is, probably not. After all there’s a great many maps that fail to include this country. https://youtu.be/HynsTvRVLiI