Americans Spend Almost $500 Million on Pet Costumes
Americans Spend a Lot of Cash on Dressing Up Furry Family Members
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The family pooch or designated purring machine are considered family members by most who love and treasure them, and nowhere is that more evident than in the recently revealed fact that pet owners spend about $490 million on dressing them up for Halloween.
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Whether you're swaddling up an orange tabby in a Puss n' Boots costume or making your hound dog do the jailhouse rock in a prison jumpsuit, pet costumes have become something of a social media sensation. Cute selfies starring those perfect pets are essentially a fountain of likes, loves and heart reacts, so of course their loving owners take advantage of the situation. And the stats seem to agree — according to the National Retail Foundation (NRF), 17% of pet owners will force their fur baby into a Halloween getup this year. That's up from 12% of owners who did so nearly a decade ago, in 2009.
But the good news (particularly for pet shops and pop-up Halloween stores) doesn't end there, as NRF research and industry insights manager Katie Jordan details on the NRF blog.
“Spending on pet costumes continues to increase: This year total planned spending for pet costumes comes in at $490 million, more than double what we saw in 2010. Curious what these cute animals will be dressed as? Top pet costumes this year include pumpkins, hot dogs and superheroes — because every pet is a superhero in their owner’s heart.”
While jack-o'-lanterns, stadium franks and cape and cowl ensembles may take the top three spots in terms of this year's most popular pet costumes, some other interesting contenders round out the top 10 list — it turns out that Americans love to dress up their animals as other animals. Buzzing bumblebees, silent sharks and little lions are expected to show up in great numbers this year, with more traditional devil and witch costumes also making the cut.
Strangely enough, cat and dog also appear on this top 10 list, making us wonder whether people are planning to dress their cat up as a dog — and vice versa — or rather just not dressing their pets up at all, taking the lazy route.
Hopefully this show of love and affection for the Halloween season, man's best friend, and sir hiss-a-lot is coming from a genuine place. As addiction to social media sharing continues to grip the nation, many have doubts about the sincerity of those taking to these platforms in order to share scary selfies.
Keeping up with the Benjamins is a time-honored American tradition, but if your furry, four-legged friend struggles after about five minutes in their store-bought costume, it may be time to reconsider your priorities. Well, after you and your family have had a laugh over it, maybe.
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