Easter Inc.?

The White House is once again planning the Easter egg-rolling event that dates  to 1878, during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, soon after Congress outlawed playing games on the Capitol grounds. 

But this year there’s a change afoot that may alter the complexion of the event from a quaint and family-friendly gathering that could draw tens of thousands of people to the White House lawn on April 21, 2025 — to something more akin to McEaster.

Or Easter™, brought to you by … 

In a year that has delivered previously unimaginable realities to the fore, the White House is, according to numerous media reports and the revised website of the National Park Service, soliciting corporate sponsorships for the annual Easter egg event in which kids race to roll their hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn first. A promotional brochure says that sponsors could earn “branding” benefits for participating by paying fees ranging from $75,000 to $200,000, according to a piece by D.C.-based New York Times reporter Minho Kim, published online early Monday, March 24. 

Those “branding” benefits could include a booth on the White House grounds during the event, along with “logo placements, branded snacks or beverages, exclusive tickets to brunch with the first lady, Melania Trump, a chance to engage with the White House Press Corps, a private White House tour and 150 tickets to the event,” Kim reports.

Now, the commercialization of Easter is nothing new. Makers of greeting cards and bunny outfits and all the chocolate and jelly beans (and Peeps) and shredded plastic and other accoutrements needed for assembling an Easter basket to wow the kids have long sold their wares for profit. In fact, Easter has joined the dubious list of holiday observations that pop up way too early in retail stores; the Easter displays land moments after the excitement of St. Patrick’s Day has dissipated, if not before.

I understand the idea behind celebrating Easter with bright colors and airy lightness. It’s a holiday meant to honor the rebirth, for Christians, of Jesus, and for millions of others the revitalization of the Earth. It announces, loudly, the triumph of color and light over Lent or a long grey winter.

But selling sponsorships for an event on the White House grounds strikes me as garish, tasteless, contrary to the ethical standards that should guide our government. The White House Easter Egg Roll is not a sport and the place it happens — the official residence of the president — is not a stadium. It should not be for sale. Taking cash for shameless advertising at a government event meant to celebrate the triumph of rebirth is just plain wrong. It lacks class.

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For more information on past White House Easter Egg Roll events, visit the White House Historical Association’s website. 

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My two grandchildren — a 6½-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl — recently received delightfully colorful painted wooden eggs during a visit to a New Britain Polish deli. Widely known as Ukrainian Easter eggs or as pysanky, they are decorated with lively patterns and colors in a process that can involve wax and dyes. My grandchildren’s eggs were gifts of a generous cashier at the store, where my daughter bought a delicious soup, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and a loaf of rye bread. (Unseeded.)

The bright eggs are a continuation of a tradition that dates back generations to a time when farmers living in what is now Ukraine prepared the colorful eggs as a kind of pagan offering, hoping they would encourage the sun to return after a long winter and sustain them and their crops through the summer. (These eggs are not to be confused with the 50 or so opulent and now very pricy Fabergé eggs that were handmade by jewelers as Easter gifts for members of the Russian royal families.)

The eggs given to my grandchildren are without even a hint of corporate sponsorship. No branding, no logos, no lunch with the first lady. Just the enjoyment of bright colors and whatever anticipation and excitement kids might associate with the holiday.

And that is as it should be.