Beer, pirates and ukeleles: What's behind wacky holiday fad?

There are 366 days this year -- you get an extra this leap year -- and there are thousands of things to celebrate.

You can "ahoy, maties" for National Talk Like a Pirate Day, or let loose on National Tequila Day. From National Pizza Day to Ukulele Day, there's so much to celebrate, you might find the options overwhelming.

If you've checked your Twitter, Facebook or Instagram this morning, you most likely know today is National Beer Day. Social media has led to a proliferation of reasons to celebrate, and now, even the most obscure business is becoming big business, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

Ken Wheadon is an editor at Ad Age magazine. He said he has no idea how the holiday trend got started, but that business seized even the smallest marketing opportunities in the most random of days. It's as easy as posting an Instagram or a hashtag.

"I think in most cases, it was the holiday that came first and then some smart enterprising person came and said there is money to be made here," Wheadon said. "And social media makes that easier, you know you don't have to run a TV campaign if you have a video lying around -- you can just roll one out. It might be the equivalent of shouting in a football stadium, but you can get a little bit of attention for some of this."

Or, even start a new company. In 2007, advertising colleagues Duncan Mitchell and Brooke Lundy started sending each other humorous digital cards.

"We sent out a link to like 50 people and you watch the traffic and one day, it's 500 people, the next day it's 1,000 people and pretty soon it was a million people a month," Mitchell said.

Today, their company, Someecards, celebrates days Hallmark might have skipped, from the absurd to the obscure. They make money on advertising and sponsored cards.

"You know, as opposed to just traditional holidays and such, we wanted a card that covered absolutely any occasion at all," Lundy said.

These tongue-in-cheek cards are written by a team of comedians.

"I don't know if it encompasses that much, but I believe it is a small piece of people's every day now," Mitchell said.

It takes an act of Congress to make a true federal holiday. CBS News was not able to pin down exactly who started the holiday fad, but sources tell us they think National Donut Day was the first.