By: Cindy Wang, Peak Associate

It’s everyone’s favourite month of the year: the month where we pretend there’s snow on the ground and climate change isn’t real so we can get into the Christmas spirit. And what says “Christmas” more than spending money just to spend even more money? At least, that’s what the Vancouver Christmas Market’s marketing team tells me. They’re selling their tickets using the most effective methods we all fall for — consumerism and a desire to have friends.

This year, thousands of people are spending money to enter an event where they’ll spend even more money buying things like wax candles, essential oils, and mulled wine, which are arguably more important than having money for rent. So this holiday season is the perfect way for companies to say, “buy these priced-up goods just because they’re Christmas themed, and you want to celebrate Christmas like a normal person, right?” Although the $20 poutine tastes exactly the same as the $6 poutine I got at the Surrey Central food court, this is at a Christmas Market, which should objectively make it better.

There are some people that think the Vancouver Christmas Market is a tourist trap, but those non-believers don’t know what the true meaning of friendship is. Their marketing team is telling me that I need to pay for their outrageous ticket or else I’ll lose all my friends. I’m tempted to believe this. After all, I went to the Richmond Night Market last summer just because I wanted to hang out with my friends. As adults, none of us have a lot of free time, so our favorite activities involve spending a ton of money very quickly. We’re spending so much money just to hang out, which is a little counterintuitive considering we’re all broke college students barely getting by. Paying off student loans is overrated anyway.