“Valentine’s day is overrated!” said my friend and I disagreed. And then he paused for a second, smirked at me and asked, “Do you know the price of flowers doubles on Valentine’s Day?” to which I had no answer because I do realise there is a truth in it. I have always thought of Valentine’s day as a reason to celebrate love regardless you are single or in a relationship; a way of expressing your affection to people you hold dearly and nearly to your heart. But is this day a huge marketing ploy?
A marketing strategy
In the US alone, it was predicted that $22 billion was spent for Valentine’s Day last year. To put that into perspective, the amount spent is four times the Economic Stimulus Package (RM 20 billion) that the Malaysian government allocated due to Covid19. That is one huge amount! According to an article published by NST in 2017, Malaysians were planning to spend RM 700 per person on average (based on a survey) for Valentine’s day in that year. Other countries in Asia-Pacific such as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were spending an average of US$310, US$282 and US$271 respectively. Looking at these numbers, it does seem like marketing has a close association with the celebration of the day of love and romance. Flowers were the most preferred choice of gift by Malaysians followed by jewellery, clothes and leather goods. Fancy meals and chocolates are also largely favoured as part of Valentine’s day celebrations. Crunching these numbers shed some light on the fact that Valentine’s Day is indeed a big marketing strategy. From the non-stop pop-up ads, the special hotel deals, heart-shaped chocolates to endless marketing emails promoting V-Day deals, this day certainly contributes largely to the economy; thanks to the brilliant marketing strategists!
Cash or caress?
So, does this mean Valentine’s Day is just a marketing scheme? In my opinion, the answer is no. Undeniably, business owners ride on the sentiment of love to enhance their businesses opportunistically but the celebration of V-day does not necessarily mean splurging to everyone. People tend to express their love and affection differently and it certainly does not always come in the form of gifts or flowers. Some might cook for the person they care about, while others might plan a movie night and for many, it might just be taking a road trip and spending some alone time with their loved ones. And ironically, some might even work on the day to provide for their loved ones and that too is a form of love. Love is subjective and there is no right or wrong way of expressing it as long as it is genuine and maturity is to understand that love language differs from one person to another. Above all, the affection and care we have for someone are not defined by a single day in a year but through consistent efforts daily. However, a day of such is a reminder and an excuse to cherish the people we love in our lives because life can get a little too busy and we tend to get carried away easily.
So, this Valentine’s Day, regardless you celebrate it with a gift or not, do not forget to tell the people you love how much they mean to you because that is what matters the most. This does not just limit to your partner it can be your parents, siblings or even pets because love comes in all forms and it transcends everything! To everyone, happy celebrating love and life!
Thanusha is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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