Kmart kicking off Christmas ad

Summer doesn't end until Sept. 22, but Kmart wants you to start thinking ahead to the holidays — even as it pokes fun at itself for its summertime Christmas ad.

“It's too early for Christmas, so just to be clear, this is not a Christmas commercial,” the ad begins. “Let’s say you have an event in late December that you need a lot of gifts for, like, maybe your entire family is having a birthday on the same day,” the ad says, as it goes on to mention the benefits of Kmart's layaway program.

Early holiday ads have become a bit of a Kmart tradition, as it tries to one-up the competition by reminding cash-strapped shoppers of its layaway program.

According to the National Retail Federation, nearly 40 percent of Americans began their holiday shopping before Halloween last year. Kmart offers layaway year round, but during the holidays it runs a no-money down promotion that begins with contracts starting Sept. 20.

The Star’s news services

This story was originally published September 5, 2014 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Kmart kicking off Christmas ad."