Spring into March – the action-packed month for financial journalists

By Flickr user jpmpinmontreal

This month bodes well for business writers, with a lively mix of news – from the potential NFL lockouts and government shutdown to the one-year anniversary of healthcare reform.  NCAA basketball, state budget battles, spring break and the peak of tax-filing season all contribute to an action-packed month for financial journalists.

But amid all of those heavy-duty stories, don’t overlook the substantive story possibilities in two hard-partying holidays that are just around the corner.

Mardi Gras, which takes place on March 8 this year, isn’t just for New Orleans any more.  It’s becoming another day – like Halloween and the Super Bowl – that marketers are seizing upon to drive special occasion sales.  I screeched to a halt in Kroger the other day before a bin of Mardi Gras edition Hot Wheels die-cast cars! What on earth does one thing have to do with the other?   But it worked – I confess to snapping up a ’67 Ford Mustang and  a ’67 Chevrolet Camaro convertible, each sporting Mardi Gras paint jobs and packages decked out with cat-eye masks and green/gold/purple strands of beads.

The connection is a little more clear in the case of Zatarain’s, maker of Cajun-style prepared foods.  They are running a variety of festive social media promotions, like “Mardi Gras Central” on Facebook and a Facebook app that lets users add beads and masks to their own Facebook profile photos.  Have to admit, that’s pretty clever.  Zatarain’s execs also on Thursday will ring the NYSE opening bell remotely from New Orleans, another Mardi Gras tie-in.

I found other events at venues ranging from New York steakhouses to school fundraisers in the Midwest taking advantage of Mardi Gras spirit.  Check the shelves of retailers in your area, and with caterers, bars and restaurants, about trends related to Mardi Gras,  which has spread far beyond the Gulf Coast.  And look for the business and economic impact of other pre-Lent traditions; does your region cater to Brazilians celebrating Carnival, or Polish and grocery-store bakeries selling the Fat Tuesday paczki pastries?

Or perhaps partiers in your region are willing to wait a week and indulge on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.  (Remember those Hot Wheels?  I noticed a bin of shamrock-themed cars at the ready in Kroger.)   According to the National Retail Federation, it’s a big day for bars and restaurants, as well as the sale of special foodstuffs for home-cooked meals.

Might be interesting to quiz some wholesalers, food processors and grocers about how they handle that once-a-year bump in the corned beef and cabbage demand, for example.   Grocers really get in on the act with Irish cheddar, green cakes, beer sales, etc., I’ve noticed.  It’s also a big day for cabbies, designated driver services, casino promotions and party-supply sales.

March 18 – which this year falls on a Friday – is a pretty good bet for an absenteeism boost; a story workplace  writers may want to jump on.  I wonder if far-sighted workers will request the day off in advance, making for a lot of three-day weekends, or if they’ll take impromptu sick days and hope no one remembers on Monday.