ALT-1 Valentines Day Commercial Hype or Romantic Opportunity – Commercial
"Love makes the World go round" or so they say, whilst others say "Money makes the World go round". Using simple mathematical logic, therefore, love EQUALS money or it certainly does when it comes to the card and gift outlets around St Valentine's Day. Cynical? Me?
No sooner have the stores packed away the Christmas cards and wrapping for another year, then they are festooning their shop fronts in hearts and flowers and everything is pink, fluffy and expensive!
I'm a real romantic. I enjoy expressing my love for my partner, thanking her for the role that she has in my life and expressing the gratitude that we met and fell in love. I try to do this every day in some way. Not necessarily with gifts or cards, but with gestures and comments that re-affirm my love. I embrace a celebration of love and enjoy the IDEA of a day to recognize this, but I feel that St Valentine's Day has just become a commercial opportunity to bleed us of more of our hard earned cash.
Firstly, the mark up on even the most basic of items shoots up after the end of January. Cards, certainly any of any quality, with correctly spelled verse(!), are double the normal price and cuddly toys are a ridiculous amount. Flowers, an enduring token of love, are almost unaffordable, particularly if you're going for the red roses. This is due entirely to us being a captive audience. We can't wait until later in the year to buy our cards when they are cheaper. Valentine cards appear in the shops for 3 weeks at most so we HAVE to buy them when we are told to.
In this sense we are co-erced romantics! Forced to demand the products when the supply is short lived - a godsend combination of the basic laws of economics that cause the cash registers to sing.
Secondly, whilst St Valentine's Day is meant to be a day for re-affirming love and romantic ideals it is increasingly becoming a day for sexual experimentation and furtiveness. Lingerie shops, and I use that title in it's BROADEST sense, have leaped on the Valentine's bandwagon, offering sexy lingerie and cheeky attire in an attempt to re-affirm not warmth and love, but sexual gratification and debauchery! Listen to me, all conservative! I recognize that sex and love go hand in hand in many relationships, and the 2 should be given high priority, but the promotion and marketing around these stores at this time of year is real affirmation that this has become a SPENDING day rather than a celebration day.
All of this, as I've said, is because we are a captive market, but captive because of the expectation that Valentine's now brings. Heaven forgive any man who forgets to do even the bare essential of buying a card, but the expectation levels are such that a Valentine's present is deemed to represent, in direct proportion, how much love is really felt. It's become a minefield of potential hazards for us! (I've concentrated on guys being the forgetful, unromantic ones, as that's what we tend to be). As a result, the stores know that we MUST buy something with a heart on or a meaningful message, so the prices soar.
Surely the most thoughtful, and meaningful, gift would be a simple one, truly representing love rather than something mass produced and sold at an over inflated price. However, the expectation over the gift is huge! What if we get it wrong? We think that a cute, cuddly bear with an endearing message is great, but what if she's expecting to be whisked off to Paris or receive that diamond ring from a bended knee suitor? It's a minefield! And if we get it wrong, it ripples throughout the year.
As such, the pressure being exerted on the gift buying public is enormous, so we have to get it right, we have to consume, so we HAVE to spend a lot of money! And the stores provide the means!
If we are not careful, then the expense and the ill-conceived gift can actually cause the one word that everyone associates first with St Valentine's Day..................Massacre!
