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MLK Day Sales Are Not a Thing

Dr. King’s birthday isn’t a shopping holiday, so don’t make it one.

By Tiffany Yannetta
A shot of someone standing near an engraving of “I Have a Dream” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s name Photo: Margarita Sonnenberg/EyeEm/Getty Images

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on Monday, January 16th, and we’ve already received a handful of pitches here at Racked specifically for MLK Day sales. Not just regular sales, not just weekend sales, but MLK Day sales. It shouldn’t need to be said, but MLK Day sales are not a thing.

All national holidays do not need fake retail holidays to accompany them, particularly ones that honor the life and work of a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Using Dr. King’s birthday and the federal holiday dedicated to him to sell things is opportunistic in a really gross way, and you certainly won’t see us positioning our typical weekend sales roundup on Facebook as “great places to spend your $$$ on #MLKDay!!”

Brands, stores, websites, and publicists: Please don’t do this either.

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