America’s favorite holiday tradition has a new top contender, and it’s not decorating the Christmas tree or failing at gingerbread houses. As of late, the tried and true favorite is annually bemoaning how early in the year stores put out their holiday merchandise, a practice known as “Christmas creep.” The joy is that this practice extends to nearly every other hyper-commercialized holiday, and Starbucks is this fall’s biggest culprit.
If you were thinking, “Isn’t it a little early for the Pumpkin Spice Latte?” then you aren’t wrong. Starbucks’ decision to roll out the PSL, as it is known by loyal fans, on Aug. 22 marks the earliest release date on record and two days earlier than 2023. With temperatures still in the triple digits, Starbucks might have crossed the line this time. No, it’s not fall yet.
Johanna Aldana, a freshman at UNLV, said during the Involvement Fair, “I think [Starbucks] definitely needs to target it to the state. For example, roll out the fall drinks a little bit later so that when they are released people want to go and buy them because it’s colder. It’s way too hot when they are released this early.” Many other students at the Involvement Fair agreed that fall hadn’t started for them.
This move—and its success or failure—should matter to students at UNLV. Even if it seems like a mundane complaint, people already love to hate the Pumpkin Spice Latte and, more accurately, its consumers. Every year, people make wry comments conflating a taste for the PSL with femininity and whiteness. To some people, no matter how wrong they are, we are what we drink.
The reception of this step also says a lot about our overconsumption and the commercialization of the holidays. When companies stock their shelves with Easter chocolates in February and with Christmas ornaments before Thanksgiving, people lose a sense of the holidays. For religious holidays, in particular, this commercialization can turn problematic when it competes with the spirit of modesty and dilutes their original meaning. Some seasonal release dates have even become quasi-holidays in their own right, as is the case with Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte launch and Red Cup Day.
It might be frivolous to complain about the PSL considering more serious problems in the world, such as the conflict in Gaza. However, the two are not entirely unrelated. In economic terms, Starbucks reached a record $9.4 billion in Consolidated Net Revenue last year in Quarter 4 and scored big with record-breaking weekly sales after the Pumpkin Spice Latte was released. This year’s even earlier release date is occurring as Starbucks faces continued boycotts due to the company’s alleged support for Israeli military operations in Palestine. The company would never own up to this, and admittedly it is a stretch, but is the PSL the latest shield against such blowback? Irrespective of any ideology, Starbucks is a company motivated by profits.
Alberto Lorio, an engineering student at UNLV, said, “September is a time for reminding yourself how much you missed the autumn, the spring… The Pumpkin Spice Latte is as much a changing of the guard as cooling of the weather. They should have never brought it in so early; I’m sweating just writing this. ”Am I advocating that we shout from every rooftop that we the people decide when Fall starts and not Starbucks? Of course not, but students should strive to buy consciously, which is a principle that goes for anything. In this time where “the algorithm” overwhelms us with products, we must learn to question when we are being too easily influenced. On a more sentimental note, it’s important to value our time without rushing the future. If we are desperately awaiting the arrival of the end-of-year holidays—and the sweet treats they bring—that has to say something about our satisfaction with the present. As the school year gets back into full swing at UNLV, let’s all live in the moment, Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand or not.
