Sofa so good - but now we're on to Easter eggs

It follows on naturally from the wall-to-wall sofa ads on TV right after the festive break, and the ads for summer holidays in sunny places far away.

Easter is a time which means many things to many people, from a pivotal celebration in the Christian calendar - a time of renewal and hope - to nothing at all, really.

Once upon a time it was hugely important to ancient pagan culture, and of course was all about new life and fertility (which explains the classic imagery of rabbits, which are notoriously fertile, and eggs).

But if you are not religious, or an active churchgoer, chances are that for you Easter Sunday will be a day much like any other - as for most of the population.

So why do schools get a fornight’s “Easter” holidays - which I suppose is really just a “spring break”?

Older generations will recall that kids used to get just the holy Friday and Monday - and that in an age where an awful lot of people actually did go to church.

In anticipation of this particular lengthy holiday in a year of lengthy school holidays the shops begin stocking the inevitable assortment of chocolate Easter eggs round about now.

Which in a more logical world might seem odd, as the alleged big occasion is still two months away.

Valentine’s Day is a major marketing opportunity, of course, but is a one-hit wonder with just one day for marketing folk to make money.

Easter isn’t Christmas, perhaps, but seems there’s still cash to be made out of the greatest story increasingly never told.