Two men dodge the Christmas Tree Tax by growing their own.

“The Incredible Edible Egg”; ” Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner”; “Got Milk?”; these are some of the best marketing campaigns in history.  Collectively, they’ve done wonders for America’s consumption of animal products, and they’ve all got one thing in common.  They’re the collective product of their respective farming organization.  Now, a new organization wants to kick off a promotional campaign.  The National Christmas Tree Association wants to add a 15-cent surcharge to Christmas trees to fund a major marketing campaign.  Some are dismissing it as a Christmas tree tax, but the idea is coming from the NCTA, not the USDA; the USDA would simply provide promotion and research as it does for 18 other trade organizations.

“I can tell you unequivocally that the Obama administration is not taxing Christmas trees,” said White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said. “What’s being talked about here is an industry group deciding to impose fees on itself to fund a promotional campaign.  USDA is going to delay implementation and revisit this action.”

Is there really a need to market Christmas trees aggressively?  Well, perhaps.  the National Christmas Tree Association says real trees are losing more and more market share every year to artificial trees, so maybe a good promotional blitz could take care of that.  Still, consumers are already feeling the pinch, and adding to the cost of Christmas tree wouldn’t be a popular move (as you know that extra 15 cents would trickle down to Joe Public sooner or later.

Tags: Christmas tree tax, Christmas trees, Matt Lehrich, USDA, Christmas tree marketing campaign, Christmas tree tax to be used to fund marketing campaign, National Christmas Tree Association, Christmas tree marketing campaign, marketing, public relations

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