We Wish This Weren’t a Real Thing: The Consumerization of Fall Leaves

We consider it our job on this blog to report to you the most egregious manifestations of consumerism taking over the western world. Sometimes, we admit, those examples leave us just completely dumbfounded. And today’s example of the consumer takeover of America does just that. We’ve found a website and company that will actually sell and ship you fall leaves. Yes, leaves. That have fallen off of a tree onto the ground. For money, this website will pick them up and ship them to you. We’re not making this up. You can see it for yourself right here.

To Be Fair, There’s Been Some Consumerization of Leaves for Quite Some Time

If you do a basic Google search for “fall leaves for sale” (which as an even sadder commentary is something that Google recognizes and prefills for you), you’ll find lots of examples of fake fall leaves for sale. They largely seem to be for use in weddings, but we imagine that they’re also great for those perfectly designed seasonal tables that we talked about in an earlier blog. And we’ll concede immediately in this conversation that if we have to choose between the buying and selling of fake, plastic leaves and the buying and selling of Mother Nature’s leaves which is also now possible, we choose the latter. But honestly, it’s a choice between two very odd and somewhat upsetting things.

What This is Really Capitalizing on From a Marketing Standpoint …

What the Shipping New England Foliage site is capitalizing on from a marketing standpoint is two things. Firstly, leaf season in New England is just as much a holiday as any other holiday, and it comes with the same consumerization as any other holiday. Peak Leaf Season, as it’s referred to in the northeast, is tracked carefully each year and entire towns and businesses craft their marketing plans to account for the high tourism of the time. Having been to Maine during peak leaf season, we can attest to its beauty. And we can see why people would want to make money off of it.

But the real thing that this business and website is capitalizing on is nostalgia. When we first discovered this fantastic intrusion of capitalism into the most essential part of nature, one of our team members who is originally from the east coast admitted that when she was living on the west coast temporarily, her mother used to go into the back yard and pack up a box of freshly fallen leaves and send them to her to put in a bowl in her house. We actually think that may be one of the sweetest stories that we’ve ever heard, and it goes to show just how much a displaced resident of a rich four-season environment missed this most magical season of all. It’s an emptiness that no pumpkin latte can ever fill.

Can You Buy a Fall Feeling?

So that is the question. Are these leaves something that can truly fill a void of fall nostalgia or are they more consumer “stuff?” We’re pretty sure we’re leaning towards the latter, but we won’t rule out the former. What we do know is that if your nostalgia for New England fall runs so deep that you’re exploring mail order leaves, it’s likely that it can’t be filled by a $19.99 purchase that includes a bundle of three fall leaves in a range of colors. Also, note that it is not really nature that you’re getting because the leaves are preserved in ammonia and glycerin so that you get their absolute best color. We’re going to go out on a limb here (pun intended) and say we think that this is just more “stuff.” Though it is neat stuff.

What We Will Say on a Positive Note Is ….

Big applause to Kyle Waring, who created the site. First, he truly did identify a business need and capitalize on it. His website took seventy-five orders in the first twenty-four hours it was online. We can’t deny that that’s impressive. But mostly, we are envious because this has to be one of the best jobs ever. According to the article we just linked to, basically what this guy does is go out hiking daily and collect leaves. Then he sorts the leaves to find the best ones to sell. Can we come work for you, Kyle?

What’s Next? Shipping Twigs?

Actually, we can’t think of why you would want a twig, but then again we never thought anybody would be shipping leaves. Clearly, we’ve gotten to a point where anything and everything that can be made into a consumer product will be. Even beautiful natural leaves and the nostalgia that surrounds them.

What’s our advice? If you’re really missing fall foliage and want some shipped to you, call your mom, best friend or other actual person you know that still lives in a place where the leaves change and ask them to send you a box. You’ll have a bonding experience and a memory forever. You also will not spend twenty dollars on something that falls for free in nature.

We have to admit that we mostly wish that we never had to write this article.

Did we miss a reason to cringe at the consumerism of fall leaves? If so, tell us about it on the social media channels below.

Photo Credit: Stanley Zimny via Flickr