Pumpkin spice marketing

I’m a bad X-ennial - I don’t like pumpkin spice. I drank a few PSLs back in the stone age because of the novelty, but I’ve never particularly liked the taste. And now, I really hate the marketing of pumpkin spice literally everything, too.

At the carwash this weekend, I saw an advertisement for a pumpkin spice air freshener and literally muttered, “this has gone too far!” aloud. Which I also did the first time I saw pumpkin spice hummus. And pumpkin spice beer. And pumpkin spice dog treats, pumpkin spice cleaning products, pumpkin spice air fresheners, bbq sauce...

Pumpkin spice was originally so cool because it took something that we associated with the warm fuzzies of a holiday and put it in a totally different context. The PSL was a revelatory innovation in marketing opportunity - you could now feel like you were having Thanksgiving dessert during your morning coffee. It brought flavors together in a new context, then redefined how we talk about the start of a season.

But now, pumpkin spice is devoid of any meaning, and divorced from both its origin, and the innovation that started us down this path. Oversaturation has ruined the novelty, and it’s also diminished the ability to market effectively. When everything is pumpkin-spiced, then there’s no differentiation. When it’s applied to things it shouldn’t be because it’s trendy (I’m looking at you, hummus), then the value of it is diminished. Pumpkin spice doesn’t really “mean” anything anymore - rather than the introduction to fall, it’s a multi-season barrage of nutmeg-inflected missteps. It drives me to eye rolls rather than pumpkin rolls.

When you product doesn’t have a reason to exist, you can’t make a strong message. Everything comes out as fluff, and that’s where marketing gets lost. Following trends has a place in marketing, but only if you, your products, and the trend have a clear affinity.

Now, if someone wants to debate the merits of an oat milk cortado, I’m all ears!