Lifestyle
It's somehow pumpkin spice season already. Why fall vibes are here earlier than ever
![It's somehow pumpkin spice season already. Why fall vibes are here earlier than ever It's somehow pumpkin spice season already. Why fall vibes are here earlier than ever](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3992x2246+0+208/resize/1400/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F73%2F8b54974c46e0bc1be4f02b477666%2Fap23244799083759.jpg)
People browse Halloween displays at Lowe’s Home Improvement hardware store in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 30, 2023.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
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Ted Shaffrey/AP
Summer is weeks from being over, but ghosts, goblins and pumpkin spice lattes are here once again.
“Summerween” is that time of the year when big-box retailers start to promote all things sweater weather even though shorts and flip-flops are still in season.
It’s been a trend for a while now. But this year, fall and Halloween-related goods are appearing earlier than ever.
![Here's why the smell of pumpkin spice moves us, according to science](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/10/26/gettyimages-1348060715_sq-ae370263e8db0817d3984ebabadbe834ed6246b9.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Home Depot was considered the first major retailer to launch Halloween merchandise with an online campaign that began in April — six months before the actual holiday. Lowe’s, Party City and Michaels all started to sell some of their spooky season items online in June, earlier than in previous years.
And on Thursday, Starbucks began serving its iconic pumpkin spice latte and apple spiced seasonal drinks in the coffee chain’s earliest rollout yet. So what’s causing the fall spell?
A Halloween comeback
Marketing experts say retailers typically seek early holiday promotions to prevent unsold inventory or to beat their competitors to the punch. They say the early launches are also a sign that consumer demands are changing, especially since COVID.
Lowe’s, Michaels and Party City all attributed growing customer demand as a reason for their early rollouts. Home Depot similarly told NPR that a big driver of their “Halfway to Halloween Sale” was early interest from Halloween superfans, adding that several items from their April sale were quickly sold out.
That’s not surprising to Peter Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“When I was in college, the idea of doing anything for Halloween would have been appalling,” he said. “But if you look at college students today, they embrace Halloween.”
![We're spending $700 million on pet costumes in the costliest Halloween ever](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/10/30/image000000_sq-dff0e01663b52e689520e026d66663849cf85948.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
According to Fader, Halloween is no longer viewed as a children’s holiday or just about trick-or-treating. Instead, it’s increasingly popular among adults, and that enthusiasm magnified after the COVID shutdowns.
In the few years before and into the start of the pandemic, Halloween spending was declining in the U.S., from $9.1 billion in 2017 to $8 billion in 2020. Fast forward to 2023, and shoppers in the U.S. spent a record $12.2 billion on Halloween goods, according to projections from the National Retail Federation.
Fader attributes some of the attitude shifts to the seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween, which has become a staple associated with fall itself. Part of the store’s popularity is how its costumes and other merchandise continue to stay culturally relevant.
“I think it really opened the door, legitimized it, and made it more than just for little kids,” he said.
Can retailers be too early with their early rollouts?
George John, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, says these early rollouts also have a better chance of being successful now — compared to 20 years ago — thanks to consumer data and online shopping.
“They now have bigger and better ways to slice and dice who’s buying what and when they buy it. And therefore, [they] have a better ability to run promotions that are more targeted,” he said. “As the ability to use data has increased, therefore the temptation to use it has increased.”
But John added that even with more sophisticated data on consumer trends, retailers can still be at risk of being too early and can diminish a sense of urgency.
“If they just stretch every darned holiday out to being a season, it just loses its meaning and it loses its intensity,” he said.
![It's spooky how fast Spirit Halloween stores pop up. Here's how the retailer does it](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/10/05/gettyimages-185493989_sq-ba1997f82f846c9091318d6a062b82ea740a4067.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
Fader also believes it’s possible for retailers to be “too early” on the fall and Halloween bandwagon. He added that dropping merchandise prematurely can hurt companies’ bottom line.
“There could be merchandising issues,” he said. “If you’re taking some stuff off the shelf and putting things on the shelf that people don’t want at that time, you’re only hurting yourself.”
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Lifestyle
Jake Paul Impressed By Ronaldo's YouTube Numbers, But Says He Won't Catch MrBeast
![Jake Paul Impressed By Ronaldo's YouTube Numbers, But Says He Won't Catch MrBeast Jake Paul Impressed By Ronaldo's YouTube Numbers, But Says He Won't Catch MrBeast](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/ce/16by9/2024/08/23/ce9c46c5848f4ccba0d6102d3a467314_xl.jpg)
TMZSports.com
Cristiano Ronaldo may have broken the record for most subscribers in 90 minutes on YouTube … but there’s just no way in hell he’s catching up to MrBeast‘s astronomical figures — so says Jake Paul.
Many had wondered if the soccer superstar could reach 300 million like Beast, given his wild numbers in just a few days of launching his channel — but Paul told TMZ Sports on Friday, he just doesn’t see it happening.
Now, that’s not any kind of shade from the boxer — Paul actually praised Ronaldo for scoring the number — but he just thinks MrBeast’s digits are in a whole ‘nother stratosphere.
“Kudos to him,” Paul said of Ronaldo. “Hopefully he drops some awesome videos and I think it’s dope that he’s on the platform.”
Of course, Paul knows a thing or two about how YouTube works … he spent most of his life chasing followers on the site — and currently has around 20 million subs.
And, while Ronaldo’s numbers keep growing by the minute — he’s up over 39 mil now — Paul says he’s expecting a plateau soon.
Ronaldo likely won’t care too much, after all, he’s got the leg up on Beast on Instagram — coming in with a staggering 637 million followers there.
SIUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!
Lifestyle
Diane Lane talks therapy and adopting a tortoise : Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!
![Diane Lane talks therapy and adopting a tortoise : Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me! Diane Lane talks therapy and adopting a tortoise : Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2024/08/23/gettyimages-2154652860_wide-4d04a834c8c6f8c030aee4be370faa4112f94d1f.jpg?s=1400&c=100&f=jpeg)
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Diane Lane was just thirteen years old when she was cast in her first movie opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, but she had already been acting professionally since the age of six. Since then, she’s had almost 80 roles in film and TV, most recently in FX’s Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, which got her an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a limited series. But, while we wait to see if she wins that, we challenge her to win our game.
Lifestyle
Ryan Reynolds Explains Why He Cut Pal Rob McElhenney's Cameo From 'Deadpool 3'
![Ryan Reynolds Explains Why He Cut Pal Rob McElhenney's Cameo From 'Deadpool 3' Ryan Reynolds Explains Why He Cut Pal Rob McElhenney's Cameo From 'Deadpool 3'](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/3d/16by9/2024/08/24/3d58ed55dc0e48bfa6a2544df16541f5_xl.jpg)
Ryan Reynolds is dishing on why Rob McElhenney doesn’t appear in the new ‘Deadpool’ flick … saying they couldn’t make his scene work — which wasn’t Rob’s fault at all.
The movie star posted about his close friend and fellow Wrexham A.F.C. co-owner Friday on Threads … acknowledging his buddy did film a scene for the flick — but, they couldn’t figure out how to fit it in the final cut.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
The way RR explains it, the sequence itself didn’t work … and, the only reason it didn’t immeditaly end up on the cutting room floor was because of Rob’s performance.
Reynolds says he brought a great intensity to it, and he appreicates his close friend flying all the way to London for him … but, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Ryan did reveal the fate of Rob’s character though … admitting a huge creature ate him and eventually excreted him — not exactly a heroic end for Rob.
We already knew Rob’s cameo ended up getting cut out — ’cause he let everyone know pretty much the day the movie came out.
I traveled 6 thousand miles to shoot my cameo. I hope you enjoyed it because the theater I was watching in had mistakenly cut it out. Since I KNOW Ryan wouldn’t do me like that, I look forward to catching the movie and my cameo again today! #DeadpoolandWolverine pic.twitter.com/0yhZqLuiLz
— Rob McElhenney (@RMcElhenney) July 26, 2024
@RMcElhenney
He shared a pic posing alongside Hugh Jackman on set, joking that the theater he went to must’ve accidentally cut his part out, since he flew 6,000 miles to film it, and he just knows Ryan wouldn’t do that to him.
FWIW … “Deadpool & Wolverine” is back on top of the box office in its fifth weekend and Wrexham has won 2 of its first 3 league matches — so, we bet the two pals are pretty stoked, even with the unfortuante editing.
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