To farmers during the age of agrarian societies, fall was simply the harvest season, a time to stock up on food for the winter and reap the benefits of a year’s worth of manual labor. Nowadays, fall is not just a farming season, but football season, flannel season, and pumpkin flavored everything season. But does it ever feel like fall is creeping earlier and earlier every year? Looking at the statistics provides some insight into the phenomenon of the feeling of earlier falls.
For the 2024 fall season, the pumpkin spice latte, along with a multitude of autumn-inspired drinks and sweet treats, were released in late August by major coffee chains. Starbucks rolled out their fall menu on August 22nd, while Dunkin’ released its menu on the 28th. Besides Dunkin’s pushback of their usual roll-out date, a clear trend has emerged among coffee shops and all stores with seasonal items; making fall earlier and earlier. Starbucks, for instance, started with their fall menus coming out in October. Since then, their roll-out date has gotten earlier and earlier into the season. In 2020, they released their menu on August 25th, on the 23rd in 2023, and on the 22nd in 2024. Although these are mere days apart, it shows that Starbucks is fully prepared to keep moving earlier into August. Dunkin’ had been following a similar plan; releasing on the 19th in 2020 and the 16th in 2023. Although they released later this year, it can be assumed that they were making sure they could roll out their new Dunkalatte with perfect efficiency. It’s clear that each coffee chain has been gradually moving their roll-out date further and further into summertime every year. Why wouldn’t they? The pumpkin spice latte, along with the other fall-inspired drinks and sweets, have earned a cult following over the years, for fall aesthetic and sugary taste.
And coffee shops aren’t the only stores doing this. Halloween decorations at stores like HomeGoods and Lowe’s used to emerge around September, but in recent years, they have advanced their decorations into early August and sometimes late July. Bath & Body Works released their fall candles in late July, much earlier than usual. This trend has aligned with the new “Summerween” trend on social media, where many autumn-lovers have been celebrating fall scents, drinks, and styles during the summer months.
Obviously, attire is one of the few markets where fall doesn’t quite go – it isn’t cold enough yet, but in many stores, back to school clothes line the walls quite early. If you’ve been tuning into back to school shopping ads, the peddling of fall during the summer wouldn’t be as surprising. After all, many stores begin back to school deals and clothes as early as July. Since back-to-school shopping is associated with fall, the thought of approaching fall is on people’s minds since those ads begin to roll out. This negativity may be ruining some people’s summers. Sure, some people are excited for fall, and that’s all well and good. But others are exceedingly anxious about their dwindling summer time and see every new back to school ad or pumpkin candle as a reminder that summer freedom is waning by the second.
But with this trend, a controversy arises. One question surfaces: how far will fall go? Most holidays have barriers, walls stopping them from creeping too far away from their true date. Christmas, for instance, at least has Halloween stopping it from starting before November 1st. However, with few major holidays in August and late July, no one has been able to successfully curb fall’s approach. Is the fourth of July the only barrier preventing fall from seeping into June?
Even if the Fourth of July keeps fall at bay, that still leaves early July vulnerable. Will we see Ghostface masks and Sweater Weather candles available July 5th? For fall drinks, will we begin to see them make an appearance all year? After all, the pumpkin sauces used in many specialty drinks may last into January at some Starbucks and Dunkin’ locations, depending on availability, as they don’t get refills after a certain point. However, it’s interesting to wonder if allowing fall drinks to remain on the menu year-round will dilute the special feeling around getting a pumpkin spice latte. Most of the time, people get them because they “taste like fall”. But what happens when you’re getting a pumpkin spice latte well into the springtime? Some say it’s just a flavor, while others say that if you don’t save certain things for certain seasons, it may take away from the beauty that season has to offer and lower the contrast of all seasons.
This “summerween” trend has a multitude of staunch advocates and virulent haters. To many supporters, it feels that the summer season has gone on long enough. Sure, people still want days off, of course, but they’ve had the opportunity to get bright-bottled perfumes, acai bowls and Dunkin refreshers for months now. Also, unlike the fall flavors, many traditional summery drink flavors are year-round, such as Starbucks’ Strawberry Acai Refresher. People have had the chance to get these drinks for months, and now they’re looking for something new. Many are looking forward to the new drinks of fall. Quite frankly, some people just prefer the fall coziness to the summer heat. However, what most people don’t like about fall is the busy schedules that heading back to school brings New coursework, along with the start of fall sports and other activities like the fall play make the season stressful and can make it harder to savor the beauty of the fall season. This is how early fall feels like a quick solution– getting the flavors, the scents, the feel of fall while still hanging onto the freedom to enjoy them for a few more weeks. It’s the best part of the fall season without the drudgery of actually going back to school. It’s the aesthetic part of fall, instead of the actual work part of it. And who could blame teens, or anyone, for wanting that?
Sure, it can initially seem depressing to see fall in the window, and think to yourself, “Ugh, summer’s over!” But I say to you, why can’t the beauty of fall drinks, candles, and décor, and the free time of summer, peacefully coexist?
Overall, I think that if not done in excess, and not rolled back even further, because for goodness sake, it’s enough already, there’s nothing wrong with early fall. Sure it’s consumerist, but so are the summer products that are being replaced by these new ones. If a little early fall brings people joy, then so what? And if it doesn’t bring you joy, there is a simple solution: ignore it. Don’t buy fall drinks or candles or décor. And when you see it, remember that others are looking forward to it, and remember that a few fall candles on shelves and pumpkin-flavored coffees won’t magically make your summer disappear. Summer will do that all on its own.
I believe this is in stark contrast to Christmas decorations before Halloween– that is impeding on another holiday, and it is morally reprehensible. No offense, but summer, in terms of weather and overall feel, has been going on for a month or two before these candles came out, and is still in full swing by this time. And with more open schedules, this often means that the summer season (for consumerism) doesn’t have to be as long for people to enjoy it. Summer often brings the luxury of having time for extra shopping, while fall is often jam-packed with school, sports, the fall play and other activities that can make shopping for the season unfeasible if not done beforehand.