Commerce Changes the Meaning of Valentine's Day

For generations, the 14th of February has been a day when people are encouraged to express their love for each other more than on other day of the year. Usually, valentines are sent between friends, relationship partners, lovers and relatives, and they are meant to re-assure the receiver of the love they get from the sender. However, over the past few years, more and more entrepreneurs are taking advantage of this holiday, promoting a type of culture that praises people buying as much as possible for loved ones, and making a simple flower and candy seem obsolete.
 

And people feel these effects. Many say that they now feel compelled to buy expensive gifts for their loved ones, even if they want to keep it simple, and express their affection otherwise. And it's not that they're forced at gun point to buy various useless products. In other words, it's not the retailers who force customers to buy more, but the very “halo” surrounding the once-simple holiday. Now, couple partners feel at times disappointed when receiving their Valentine's Day gift, simply because they were expecting something more.
 

But the idea that love has to be proven by purchasing expensive gifts is not one that came from people, but from the producers and retailers of various themed items. Some regular citizens say that now the holiday has just become a marketing technique designed to take advantage of the fact that people feel in love. Others say that this entire period of time is just a scam designed by the manufacturers of greeting cards.
 

Some reject “what Close and Zinkhan call 'culturally established ritualized marketplace behavior'. In other words, people resist Valentine's Day because they are morally opposed to the commercialization of love and the dominant perspective, which they believe marketing has tried to convince everyone, that people must buy something on February 14 to prove they love their partner',” says University of Auckland Business School researcher Mike Lee, who is also the founder of the International Center for Anti-Consumption Research.
 

“Some skeptics may think that anti-consumption attitudes are just the ramblings of a few hippies, but that's also what people thought of vegetarianism, yoga, the green movement and organic food not so long ago,” he concludes.