Another meaningless celebration? Give me a break

There are still several days to go, but in towns and cities across the world excitement is building. As if you did not know already, this Friday is International Dance Day.

The timing is not ideal. Already we are in the middle of National Bread Week, and it is just a few days after National High Five Day and National Beanpole Week.

And all of these clash horribly with National Car Care Month and National Pet Month.

Union leaders have criticised the growing number of dubious, and often public relations-inspired, special days, weeks and months that fill the calendar, claiming they divert the focus from more serious events.

But this, too, appears to be a public-relations tactic of its own. Thursday is International Workers' Memorial Day, yet the international media seems not to have taken too much notice.

"The hijacking of the idea of special days to mark significant events ... by an army of spin doctors to simply plug their clients' products is a sick joke," Bob Crow, general secretary of Britain's Rail Maritime and Transport Union, said.

Workers' Memorial Day, set up to remember those who have been killed, disabled, injured or made unwell at work, has a far more illustrious history, with roots back in 1984, when it was started by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

It was taken up in the US five years later and has since spread to much of the rest of the world.

Now it vies for attention, in the UK at least, with such events of global significance as Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (January 31), National Pie Week (March 7 to 13), National Cleavage Day (March 31) and International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19).

The idea for designating special days took hold in America during the 1950s. An obvious tactic it may be, but it's here to stay, because, well, it works.

"I'm a great believer in them, because they're successful," said PR Consultant Max Clifford, who has been involved in setting up promotional days or weeks for prostate and cervical cancers, among other charitable causes.

"The media will focus on a day or a week, yes, but also if you want to get stars and big names involved they will be happy to concentrate their involvement over a day or a week. They wouldn't be able to do it for a year.

"If people want to try to compete with these things with their own, more commercial, national days, then good luck to them. The unions are upset their day isn't getting the attention they want it to, well, they've got to be more creative haven't they? Don't blame the competition."

PR agent Mark Borkowski, who admits to helping establish National Lemon Day in 2008, thinks that the union bosses may have a point.

"The PR industry does have a lot to answer for. Some of the stuff that's been done is pretty facile," he said.

"But their main problem is they're trying to [promote] their day when it's royal wedding week. They've got no chance."

- INDEPENDENT