“And it will come to pass if your children say to you, What is this service to you? you shall say, It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, and He saved our houses. “
exodus 12:26-27
with every american holiday, the marketing comes. most holidays devolve into a three-day holiday of unabashed consumerism. it is so bad that thanksgiving day itself has been increasingly targeted as a business opportunity. the new federal juneteenth holiday already has been hit with a few marketing fails which include wal-mart’s juneteenth ice cream and a children’s museum offering up a watermelon salad. eyes have rolled even before juneteenth’s official holiday date.
juneteenth’s date itself is a marketing challenge. with most schools out for summer break, classroom connections will not be made. how can this be addressed in the future? business are often more eager to support the holiday than appreciate it. perhaps this is the reason for current and future marketing fails. the holiday, while new to the federal calendar, is long-standing with traditions.
juneteenth celebrates when the union military led by major general gordon granger on june 19th 1865 notified that slaves that they were free people. juneteenth.com the holiday has interesting fact such as the union military freeing the slaves was integrated. both black and white soldiers participated in assisting the newly freed people. the fact that that this declaration of freedom came more than 2 years after the emanicipation proclamation is head scratching and worthy of understanding.
overall, juneteenth has before, during and after elements. first, there is slavery’s history of in the galveston area. what was the life experience of those who lived under those condition? second, there is the first juneteenth celebration by the newly freed slaves. how did they celebrate? what was their interests? how were they able to commit to make the holiday a lasting event. third, there is the challenge and struggle that the newly freed people. post juneteenth, how did they strike it out on their own and pursue their american dreams? where are their descendants today?
for business to make something meaningful and assist with the celebration, they should reach out to the many bright and talented historians on these topics. there are archives of many pictures and histories from worthy of reflection. additionally, there are many important structures and communities that were built by the slaves and free persons of galveston. finally, there is the culture that emerged from galveston. the foods they ate to celebrate and the songs that they sung.
thus, we will discuss a marketing success from almost a 100 years ago and continuing.
maxwell house brothers coffee company took on such a marketing challenge and succeeded.
they choose to market their product to the jewish community for passover, another freedom celebration. they choose to publish the haggadot. the books that are used at the passover seder. the pamphlet has traditional readings and songs. they are distributed free at markets before the passover holiday. maxwell house not only succeeded in marketing their coffee, they have become part of the american jewish tradition and are beloved. over the years, they have distributed more than 60 million of their booklets. they are perhaps one of the largest hebrew book publishers in history. eater.com
with this in mind, would juneteenth booklets be helpful for americans to understand and appreciate this new national holiday? there is much information that can be included to assist both students and adults to learn and appreciate our new official american holiday.
be well!!
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