Q: Why are unusual holidays like “Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day” so popular?
A: They give consumers a reason to take action now. You’re limited to one day to participate, which gives a sense of urgency. They aren’t niches – they’re huge drivers of sales. They’re significant for brands that are very seasonal in business and love to be relevant in other times of the year.

Q: How can brands leverage these holidays?
A: Base your marketing calendar around these holidays. Ask yourself how you can make your brand relevant by tying it to the holiday. Come up with coupon offers, special discounts or even product trials. Brands will do a one-off post on social media instead of figuring out how to drive consumer action throughout the year by using the holiday program. This isn’t just marketing – it’s sales. The holidays are a great trigger for buying product and sharing content.

Podcast

From "Drink Wine Day" to "Lost Sock Memorial Day," ASI's Vinnie Driscoll and Patrick Kennedy describe how promotional products professionals can use quirky national holidays to their advantage. 

Q: What role does social media play?
A: The rise of social media has helped with the popularity of these holidays. It’s a way to connect with other people over shared interests. People understand the emotion behind it. These holidays give meaning to every day, making life more exciting.

Q: Is it beneficial for a brand to create an unconventional holiday?
A: Absolutely. There’s more competition in well-known holidays like National Pizza Day. Brands can go in and use smaller days to own it and make it bigger. How about National Pepperoni Pizza Day or National Sausage Pizza Day? Instead of National Cat Day, change the verbiage and make it something bolder like Respect Your Cat Day. Don’t neglect smaller holidays – you can own and dominate those.

Q: How do you make these holidays go viral?
A: We pull three big levers: mass media, social media and influencers. Social media is really important because it causes people to share at a much higher rate. Brands will see content increase 10 times in share rate on those holidays compared to the same content on any other day. We also have 2,500 influencers that spread the word about these holidays. For example, on National Margarita Day, we’ll run a survey on whether America prefers frozen or on-the-rocks. Then you connect those results with a brand and use the influencers as a distribution channel by giving them unique content to reach their audience. Influencers and bloggers love it because their content is timely and engages their audience or even gets a new audience.

Ben Kaplan is the founder and CEO of PR Hacker and National Today, a marketing agency that creates and promotes quirky national holidays. Kaplan has obtained media coverage for his clients on more than 5,000 media outlets and has personally appeared on over 2,000 TV and radio programs. He also served as the official pitch trainer for hundreds of startup companies in the Start-Up Chile global accelerator.