1. Breakfast as the “Most Important Meal”
You can thank cereal companies for the idea that breakfast is crucial for health. In the early 20th century, companies like Kellogg’s and later General Foods pushed hard to make breakfast—especially cereal—a daily necessity, according to Olga Oksman from The Guardian. Ads and pamphlets promoted the idea that starting your day without breakfast would lead to fatigue and poor focus.
Though there’s some truth to eating regularly, the “most important meal” tagline was never based on hard science. It was marketing meant to sell cornflakes and toaster pastries. The slogan stuck and shaped decades of dietary habits. A whole meal category was branded into importance.
2. Easter Bunny & Candy Baskets
Easter has religious roots, but the chocolate bunnies and pastel baskets came later. In the early 20th century, candy companies began pushing sweets specifically tied to Easter. The bunny, already a symbol of spring and fertility, became the perfect mascot for chocolate molds.
Companies like Brach’s and Hershey’s marketed jelly beans and chocolate eggs as essential Easter treats. The concept of the “Easter basket” was largely commercial, encouraging parents to buy a bundle of candy and toys every spring. It’s now a seasonal retail boom. Cute bunnies, sweet treats—and big profits.
3. Santa Claus’s Red Suit
Most Americans picture Santa Claus in a red suit trimmed with white fur, but that look wasn’t always a given, Kunle Campbell explains in Big Commerce. Before the 1930s, Santa’s appearance varied widely—from a tall, skinny man in bishop’s robes to a mischievous elf. It was Coca-Cola’s holiday advertisements starting in 1931, illustrated by Haddon Sundblom, that cemented the jolly, red-suited Santa we know today. The campaign was meant to sell soda in the winter months, and it worked.
This wasn’t a case of Coca-Cola inventing Santa, but they absolutely standardized and popularized his now-iconic image. Their version was cozy, wholesome, and very marketable—perfect for selling a frosty beverage even in cold weather. Ever since, the red-suited Santa has become the global norm. Talk about a branding win.
4. Diamonds as Engagement Rings
The tradition of proposing with a diamond ring feels timeless, but it’s actually the result of a 20th-century marketing push, Uri Friedman explains in The Atlantic. In the 1930s and ’40s, diamond sales were tanking during the Great Depression, so De Beers launched an aggressive campaign to make diamonds synonymous with love and commitment. The slogan “A Diamond Is Forever,” coined in 1947, became legendary.
They placed diamond rings in movies, magazines, and celebrity engagements, transforming public perception. Before that, people proposed with all kinds of rings—or none at all. But thanks to De Beers’ campaign, diamond engagement rings became a cultural expectation. It’s brilliant (and brilliantly manipulative) marketing.
5. Black Friday
Today, Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season with chaotic energy, but it wasn’t always such a big deal. In the 1950s and ’60s, police in Philadelphia started calling the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because of the traffic jams and crowds that clogged the city, Sarah Ayoub from The Guardian explains. Retailers didn’t love the negative connotation, so they rebranded it as a shopping bonanza in the 1980s.
That’s when the “in the black” narrative took hold, implying that stores would finally make a profit for the year. Retailers leaned into doorbusters, early openings, and limited-time deals to create a frenzy. What started as a logistical nightmare became a made-up holiday driven by marketing. And now it’s practically a national event.
6. Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day has roots in ancient Roman and Christian traditions, but its modern romantic flair is largely thanks to 19th- and 20th-century marketers. Hallmark began mass-producing Valentine’s Day cards in 1913, turning the holiday into a card-giving ritual. Then came candy companies, florists, and jewelry stores, all eager to cash in on love.
They crafted the idea that true affection requires a tangible gift—preferably chocolate, roses, or something that sparkles. As a result, Valentine’s Day morphed into a multi-billion-dollar industry. The pressure to perform romantically on February 14th is less about tradition and more about marketing genius. Love sells, apparently.
7. Pumpkin Spice Everything
Pumpkin spice wasn’t always a seasonal obsession—it was Starbucks that kicked off the craze in 2003. The Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL, for fans) was introduced as a limited-time fall drink and quickly exploded in popularity. Starbucks marketed it heavily on social media, creating demand and a sense of urgency every autumn.
Soon, other brands jumped in with pumpkin spice cereal, candles, even dog treats. The flavor became shorthand for fall itself. What started as a niche drink became a seasonal identity. All thanks to a coffee chain’s very strategic fall menu.
8. New Year’s Eve Ball Drop
The Times Square ball drop feels like an age-old tradition, but it was born from an ad stunt in 1907. The New York Times wanted to celebrate the opening of its new building in Times Square and draw attention to it. So they coordinated a fireworks show and a lighted ball drop to cap off New Year’s Eve.
After fireworks were banned in 1907, they switched fully to the glowing ball. Over time, it became a nationally televised event and a countdown ritual. Millions tune in now, but the whole thing started as a PR move to promote a newspaper. Nothing like a party with a little product placement.
9. The Baby Carrot Craze
Baby carrots aren’t a special variety—they’re just regular carrots cut and shaped to look snackable. In the late 1980s, carrot farmers were dealing with waste from imperfect carrots. One savvy farmer, Mike Yurosek, decided to cut them into little uniform sticks to make them more appealing and reduce waste. He packaged them as “baby carrots.”
Supermarkets and snack companies ran with it, rebranding carrots as a convenient, healthy snack food. With slick marketing and grab-and-go bags, baby carrots became a refrigerator staple. It turned out, people were more likely to eat vegetables when they were shaped like junk food. A win for healthy marketing—without changing the core product.
10. Tailgating
Tailgating now feels inseparable from American sports, especially football. But it gained real momentum in the 1980s and ’90s thanks to beer and snack companies. They realized that the hours before a game offered a huge sales opportunity, so they sponsored parking lot parties, contests, and giveaways.
Major brands like Budweiser and Frito-Lay leaned in hard, branding tailgates with tents, coolers, and branded merchandise. What was once a casual gathering turned into a mini-festival of consumption. Now, it’s not just about the game—it’s about the pre-game. And that pre-game is heavily sponsored.
11. Mother’s Day (as we know it)
Mother’s Day was originally meant to be a quiet, reflective occasion. Anna Jarvis founded it in the early 1900s to honor her mother’s work as a peace activist. But once florists, card companies, and candy makers saw the potential, the holiday got commercialized fast. Jarvis herself was horrified and even tried to have it abolished.
Hallmark and other companies jumped in with sentimental products and ads that tugged at the heartstrings. Over time, what was once a personal, almost solemn event became a major retail occasion. These days, it’s one of the biggest days for dining out and flower sales. Ironically, it’s a holiday born of sincerity but fueled by sales.
12. Wedding Registries
The concept of wedding gifts isn’t new, but formal registries were created by department stores in the 1920s and ’30s. Marshall Field’s in Chicago is credited with launching the first bridal registry in 1924. It allowed couples to pick out china and household goods, and encouraged guests to shop at one place.
Retailers saw it as a goldmine. It streamlined gift buying while locking customers into their store’s offerings. Over the decades, it became an expected part of the wedding process. And now, even honeymoon and cash registries have joined the marketing evolution.
13. National Donut Day
It sounds like a fun, quirky holiday, but National Donut Day was created by the Salvation Army in 1938 as a fundraiser—and yes, a PR move. It honored the “Donut Lassies” who served treats to soldiers during WWI. But donut chains like Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme later jumped on the bandwagon.
They started offering freebies and promotions, turning the day into a major marketing event. Now, it’s a yearly tradition complete with long lines and lots of social media buzz. What started with charity turned into sweet, sticky sales. You can thank marketing for the hype—and the free glaze.
14. Super Bowl Commercials as a Viewing Event
The Super Bowl has always been a big deal, but ads becoming part of the entertainment is a relatively recent shift. In the 1980s, Apple’s “1984” commercial changed the game—it was cinematic, bold, and talked about for days. Soon, companies started competing not just for airtime, but for attention.
Now, people tune in just to watch the commercials, which can cost millions for 30 seconds. Brands tease ads in advance, release extended versions, and create whole campaigns around them. It turned one football game into a pop culture marketing extravaganza. Only in America can ads be the main attraction.
15. Cyber Monday
We all know about Black Friday, but Cyber Monday was actually invented in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s online division. They noticed a spike in e-commerce sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving—when people returned to work and used high-speed office internet to shop. So they branded it “Cyber Monday” to encourage even more online spending.
Retailers jumped on the trend with online-only deals and flash sales. Within a few years, it became one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. It wasn’t a natural evolution of consumer behavior—it was a name and idea created entirely to drive sales. A made-up holiday for the digital age.
