Shops should leap into action

On Saturday, I took advantage of an old leap year tradition and asked my partner to marry me. After 21 years together, I thought it would be romantic to pop the question on Saturday. I know it’s oldfashioned, but it’s pretty special to have an extra day.

Or is it? It seems to me that another leap year has drifted past without anyone taking much notice, and it made me think what a missed opportunity they are.

Of course, for those people born on February 29. it’s a big deal. They get to have a birthday on their actual birthday and they can chortle about how they’re only 10 years old when they’re really 40, or something.

But I reckon February 29 has got some legs well beyond proposals and birthdays. Firstly, and astonishingly, marketers haven’t really jumped on this one yet. To my surprise – and I even went back and checked – my inbox wasn’t full of cheesy one-day sales promos.

Think of Valentine’s Day, Black Friday, Halloween and how crazy things get.

On further investigation, Briscoes, Michael Hill Jeweller and Harvey Norman were all offering 29-per-cent-off sales, but it wasn’t the usual frenzied sales push.

Leap Day is surely a rare opportunity to capitalise on scarcity, exclusivity, urgency: people don’t like to miss out or be left behind. Promoting something for just one day sends up a little red flag to people that they’re going to miss out.

It’s also an opportunity to honour those poor Leap Day birthday celebrators. I do remember one year Pizza Hut offered leapers or leaplings – those born on February 29 – a free personal-sized, onetopping pizza.

A one-topping pizza? Seriously, they could have done better.

So, marketers, you’ve got four years’ notice to get your thinking caps on and come up with some humdinging ideas that are slightly more original than 29 per cent off.

I’m sure by the next leap day – Thursday, February 29, 2024 – things will have changed. American retailers are starting to jump on this. And where they go, we will surely follow. So here are a few ideas about how we could make February 29 special.

Firstly, it needs an identity boost, so I’m suggesting we go with the theme of frogs – they leap – so we could give chocolate frogs, have chocolate frog hunts, and frog-themed parties. It could just as easily be kangaroos, but that’s a bit too Australian, or grasshoppers.

It should definitely be a day off, or ‘‘Mondayised’’ if it falls on a weekend. I’m always in favour of additional days off work.

Businesses could donate the income from that extra day of earnings to charity, as it’s above the usual 365-day budget and revenue forecasts. Perhaps, if no-one is prepared to give us an actual day off, or give the income to a good cause, businesses and government departments could donate the day for staff to go and do something charitable.

For the record, my partner responded to my proposal by laughing gently, saying, ‘‘Of course,’’ and continuing to read the paper.

Clearly I hadn’t done the groundwork. There was no early morning hot air balloon ride with champagne, no trip to an exotic island, or fancy dinner with a violinist appearing as I pulled out the ring. In fact, there wasn’t a ring.

So, I’m off to phone hot air ballooning companies to check flight availability for 2024 and to ring Whittakers about a four-year deal on chocolate frog production.