With Christmas over and New Year's Eve full steam ahead, we officially commence the awkward five-day period sitting between the two holidays -- or in other words, Holiday Limbo -- where the two holidays blend into a confusing mess; where one begins and one ends -- nobody knows. It's a disorienting time filled with rapid cycles of pre-New Year's resolutions (gym memberships, liquid lunches) and post-Christmas hedonism (cookies for breakfast, anyone?).
Santa Claus hardly made his exit (The Rockettes are playing at Radio City through Jan. 1; Erie, Pennsylvania, is buried under a colossal amount of snow) and yet, where the Santa Claus-themed chocolates once were, now sit a row of Easter eggs … four months early.
Shoppers across the U.K. spotted Cadbury eggs, Kinder Surprises and colorfully foiled bunny rabbits next to Christmas goodies on clearance as early as Boxing Day, prompting outrage. Twitter users snapped photos of egg-stocked aisles with captions like, "Is this a joke? It's Boxing Day and you have Easter eggs on your shelves!" and "And now I've seen it all. Easter eggs on sale on 27th December."
One person posted a photo of a Co-op Food store aisle dedicated to egg-shaped Maltesers, egg-shaped Snickers, Cadbury Golden eggs, Kinder Surprises alongside the brand's stuffed bunnies, and half a dozen Easter treats typically seen in early March.
@coopukfood Is this a joke? It’s Boxing Day and you have Easter eggs on your shelves! pic.twitter.com/jndtY72hXs
— Fiona McDonald (@fibo74) December 26, 2017
A Twitter user proposed his explanation for this early Easter intrusion. He wrote, "You know why they call it Boxing day don't you… Cos it's the day when all the supermarkets open their boxes full of Easter Eggs and stick them on the shelves!"
Outraged Twitter users are saying it's much too soon to be selling Easter treats, while others are upset over supermarket's "incessant pushing of the next festival before the current one has even finished."
So, why the Easter intrusion?
A Co-op Food spokesperson told The Sun that convenience retailers shelve products when space runs out in the back room -- which is already limited -- so stores will fill up those gaps as soon as space appears. The spokesperson also asserted that customers will usually buy Easter eggs as soon as they become available.