Does Anybody Celebrate National Crouton Day?

I have a strange obsession with food-themed national days. For example, today is National Butterscotch Brownie Day and May 13 will be National Crouton Day. I look up which national days are coming up almost religiously and try to think of a fun dinner to plan around one that peaks my interest. Do I usually end up making these meals? Well…. no, but it’s a fun hobby just to come up with a crouton-themed dinner idea.

My first job out of college was to find and write news that was meant to go “viral.” National days were almost always sure to get the attention of the internet with headlines like “National Pizza Day: 5 Places to get a Free Slice.” If national days can reign in thousands of views on the web and hold my interest for years, I can imagine grocery store customers would feel the same way.

The idea of several different national days per week may seem silly and excessive, but retailers have an excellent opportunity to promote items in their stores with colorful, catchy signs highlighting the holiday and maybe even offering a deal. May 17 will be National Cherry Cobbler Day, so why not inform shoppers of the holiday and offer them a modest discount on cherry cobblers in the bakery? May 21 is National Strawberries and Cream Day, would it hurt to set up an easy display of whipped cream next to the strawberries and let shoppers know they’ll be missing out on the celebration without putting these items in their carts? May 25 is National Wine Day….I think you can see where this is going.