V-day Getting Commercial

Valentine’s Day will be celebrated later this week with many people looking forward to it. No sooner does January end than there is a fever of Valentine’s Day celebrations as the 14th of February nears. Gift shops are seen showcasing presents such as cards, chocolates, and flowers for lovers. Often they are seen offering discounts on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, ditto for bookshops, floral shops and even jewelry stores. 

Likewise, there is a deluge of Valentine’s Day-themed events which are profusely advertised on social media. And social media feed is flooded with wishes, endearments, and proclamations of love between lovers, interjected with occasional ads of gift ideas and offers from shops and businesses. It can be argued that love cannot be bought although it certainly helps to splurge on gifts for one’s lover on this day.

As the vibes of Valentine’s Day permeate into the daily lives of people globally, there seems to be no escaping it. It might be all too well for lovers but singles find themselves dreading this day in which lovers are busy gazing into each other’s eyes over a cosy dinner for two. Even movie industries are heavily impacted by this day as streaming services such as Netflix release new movies and series with the themes of romance.

While businesses and retailers compete in the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day, consumerism threatens to overshadow the real significance of this day which is to celebrate love. Usually, this love is romantic in nature. However, it can also extend to a general celebration of love as students in schools exchange cards and people take this day to be grateful for all the love in their lives. Here, one has to mention the necessity of curbing the immense amount of weight given to romantic love in the media. Love comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. To only categorise and shift all attention to romantic love can have negative consequences. 

Often romantic love is highly idealised but this can lead to possessive and territorial relationships between lovers. Hence, there has to be a healthy connotation to the concept of love. Love has to be respectful, reverent and faithful with a feeling of deep-seated gratitude. It has to highlight the necessity of mutual affection, regard and adoration. And as lovers reconnect on Valentine’s Day, they find themselves falling in love all over again. No doubt, love makes the world go round, although many have substituted love in this equation with economic gains. It is quite off-putting that pure and sacred love is equated with a discount on a gift purchase. 

Capitalism today has reared its ugly head in most aspects of human life, including Valentine’s Day which continues to amount to billions of dollars of revenue annually. In 2024, the sales associated with this day amounted to $25.8 billion globally, proving how commercial Valentine’s Day has become. It is therefore quite disheartening that the day for lovers has become highly commercialised keeping in view the sheer number of advertisements in social media and shops and stores in general.

As the traditional values of Valentine’s Day conflict with commercialisation, it has become important to uphold values of faithfulness, reverence and affection in a world mired in consumerism.