What Father’s Day Is Really About

A couple of months ago my son got his first job—a paper route. Three times a week he loads a stack of Oakville Beaver’s in a wagon and drags it around the neighborhood. The Saturday and Wednesday papers are typically pretty small. Fridays, though, are when all the fliers are released upon the local population. There are typically six or seven of them—the regulars: Best Buy, local grocery stores and maybe Staples and a sports store. But the week before special occasions, the number of fliers can grow exponentially.

Yesterday, the lead-up to Father’s Day, was by far the most we’ve had to deal with. The papers were so thick with all of the fliers that we had to get the whole family stuffing, rolling and elasticing the papers to keep them from exploding all over the neighborhood. I couldn’t help but notice that almost every one of those fliers had something on it about Father’s Day. The electronics stores were out in force, trying to get mom to buy a TV or a Blu-ray player or a Playstation 3 for dad; the grocery stores were featuring steaks and ribs; the big box stores were selling barbecues and tools. Every store wanted a piece of the family’s financial pie for this Father’s Day.

Looking for evidence as to who benefits most from Father’s Day? Look no further than your local newspaper. Here are the fliers from ours:

(And, ironically enough, look just below this post and you’ll see…you guessed it…an ad for Father’s Day stuff at Amazon).