Is your brand planning a Holiday, Memorial Day, Easter, Pearl Harbor, Sept 11th or celebrity death social media post? You really shouldn’t. Best case scenario, you get a cheap laugh or a few likes. Worst case, you evoke cringes and groans. Let’s start with what these holidays really mean.

“Most people don’t need to be taught, they need only to be reminded.”

C. S. Lewis

Over at Good to Grate, Tim Rethlake provides three suggestions on how to properly memorialize plus details all the things Memorial Day is not.

Generally, national holidays have become a marketer’s excuse to peddle their wares and promote their brand. Unless your brand revolves around these specific events, I urge you to sit it out. If you are planning a post on a day like today, do it for the right reasons. Honor the person or event. Make your post about them, not you.

Still on the fence? Here are some reasons to reconsider.