Late October is a bad time of year for me. If I were independently wealthy, it wouldn’t be so bad. But I’m not, so it’s a little painful.
The hunting gear companies and outdoor gear retailers used to send catalogs out this time of year for the Christmas rush, but they’ve switched gears and now fill up my email inbox daily.
From the companies’ standpoint, this is a perfect time to roll those ads out. You’ve had just enough time to get out in the field and realize how inadequate your current gear is, and plenty of time to try to craft the perfect hint to your significant other. It’s a masterful move by these crafty advertisers.
Take my situation, for instance. I only have one tent at the moment, and it’s a dinky little two-man backpacking number. It’s fine if I go hunting by myself, but if I take the kids with me, I wind up with a small, stinky foot crammed up my left nostril somewhere around midnight. But a number of the ads I’ve gotten recently have been for very nice five- or six-person wall tents that would be perfect for my family or a couple of my good friends and myself. I could even toss in a packable wood stove and make it even more comfortable.
The trick is figuring out how to drop that hint to my wife, and this is where the outdoor gear manufacturers have dropped the ball. Back when they sent out physical catalogs, I could just leave those catalogs open to the page with the wall tent or pack stove I wanted and let Amy “happen upon it.” But you can’t do that with an email advertisement. I could print it out and leave it lying around, but that would be too obvious, and forwarding the email is even more blatant.
I’m hoping some of those companies are still going to send some catalogs. If they don’t, I have no idea how I’m going to let my wife know what I want for Christmas this year. If you have any good ideas, please let me know.
