St. Patrick's dough.

Dunkin' Donuts has dropped the ball on St. Patrick's Day this year. 

Seriously, with all the seasonal doughnuts they make (including the bizarre Winter flavored doughnuts I noted in January), it's surprising that all they've done is one chocolate-frosted doughnut with a small fraction of shamrock sprinkles. 

Always after me lucky charms.

As I think of it, though, a lot of outfits that make hay out of holidays don't do anything for this one. Sure, McDonald's has Shamrock Shakes, but who else? There are bags of green M&M's but they don't make a holiday themed bag. There's no Reese's Shamrock. No St. Peeptrick. Sure, Google did a doodle, but you can't eat it.

I guess there are some understandable reasons for this sugar-shunning of St. Patrick's:

1) It's an ethnic holiday. Popular and universally celebrated in the States as it is, important as it is for the Catholic and universal church, it's always been a big day for the Irish people. (You may say Duh!, but remember, it's about a non-Irish-born saint, not the people he spent his life saving.)

2) And on that note, it's a religious holiday. No Jesus, no St. Patrick.

3) And it's also sometimes a political holiday, yes. The Irish have always used it to tweak the noses of people they don't like -- that is, the British -- even though Patrick was himself born in Britain.

These are the kinds of things that turn secular candy and baked goods companies off holidays. So I guess we'll have to eat corned beef and drink green beer. Or we could drink Shamrock Shakes and eat Lucky Charms. The sugar high might actually leave us with a case of the shamrock shakes, actually.