For a holiday that holds strong to tradition, there are some who are bucking them all together. But before we talk about our rule breakers—let's talk Thanksgiving orthodoxy.
Thanksgiving is a fascinating holiday because it is one of the last shared cultural moments in our country as millions are truly doing the same thing, at the same time.
It's different than most holidays because it's a long enough window to travel and take time off, but just short enough that we're on a tight timeline and hold true to traditions.
And for a holiday centered around gratitude, anxiety runs high.
It also breaks up our routines and creates a completely different set of media habits with way more downtime to captivate an audience.
So, what are people doing, how are they feeling, what are they eating and everything else? Never fear, The Pollinatr is here with a Thanksgiving week emoji consumer journey.
Get your carving knives ready, we're digging in.
The TV trifecta of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the National Dog Show and the NFL games brought in millions of viewers last year.
Although ratings were slightly down, the parade drew in more 18-49-year-old viewers (24MM) than the Grammy's (19.8MM) and the dog show captivated 11.2MM viewers. All three NFL games were up double-digits YOY. Of course, the matchups play a role here but this is good news for advertisers everywhere.
Thanksgiving eve, aka "Drinksgiving", is a big night for the books. It's the true start of the holiday season, and it's also a major night for reunions. According to Upserve, restaurants and bars saw a 23% increase in guests and sales on this night.
The "turkey drop" is another term coined around Thanksgiving—this is when people tend to break up so they don't have to bear the obligations of Christmas, NYE and Valentine's if it's just not working.
And then there are the 10,000 people who call Butterball's turkey hotline on Thanksgiving day asking how long it takes to thaw their bird.
No wonder holiday blues are a thing.
More people shopped over Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday (165MM) last year than people who voted in the 2016 elections (138MM). Thanksgiving day spending grew 28% YOY, accounting for $3.7B in online sales.
The most popular days to travel are Wednesday and Saturday, with more than 55 million travelers driving 50+ miles. 2018 had the second-highest amount of people traveling for Thanksgiving in a decade and AAA is the true savior, with more than 368,000 drivers calling for roadside help. With 90% of people traveling by car, I sure hope your audio strategy is on lockdown.
Here are the worst times to travel according to AAA and INRIX. And according to Google, for most people, the best time to leave is 2 AM, LOL.
Source: AAA and INRIX
But what about the people making up their own traditions?
One of the biggest surprises to me was that 65% of Americans want a turkey alternative—they're craving ham (60%), chicken (41%) or roast beef (37%). Looks like the turkey is def getting pardoned this year.
One reader said their family serves up salmon. Another said they ditch the traditional meal completely and each family member brings their favorite food item for a smorgasbord of epic proportions—Oreos? Check. Wendy's? Check. Papa Johns? Check.
According to Pinterest, some are ditching the stretchy pants and going all-in on keto (+120%), whole 30 (+67%) and gluten-free friendly (+128%) meals. They're just trying to show the rest of us up who are consuming 4,500 calories on average.
Others are taking a step further and don't even eat at home. Although a small percentage, 9% of people are eating out at restaurants on Thanksgiving.
Friends are looking more like family with the rise in Friendsgivings across the country.
According to YPulse, 39% of 19-37-year-olds plan to celebrate Friendsgiving this year—which is nearly double the number from 2014 (21%). Friends put this holiday on the map culturally, and demographically people are migrating.
Millennials are moving more often than their older counterparts, and nearly half (43%) of people have moved more than 50 miles away from their hometown. Perhaps this is why Friendsgiving is on the rise. For others, it is just a cause for multiple celebrations and an excuse to gobble till you wobble. Guilty as charged.
Source: Google Trends
While the TV is being hogged by the Thanksgiving trifecta, streaming services are strategically releasing a cornucopia of content to fill in the gaps.
Just look at what Netflix has been up to. Last week, The Crown S3 along with a ton of family content like Green Eggs and Ham, Klaus and Llama Llama S2 dropped. On Thanksgiving eve, Martin Scorcese's The Irishman starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino will be taking over our screens. And that's not even counting all of the new (and old) content from Disney+ and AppleTV+ that just launched.
Other untraditionalists are taking advantage of the days off and traveling out of town, but nowhere near home. Americans' international travel increased 63% YOY over Thanksgiving with Jamaica, France and Italy rising to the top.
What does this all mean? Thanksgiving's multifaceted traditions and untraditions make it a powerful moment for brands to take advantage of. People have time to kill, money to spend and feels to feel, so how can your brand do something that makes them give thanks?