by Emily Mosier
Love is in the price tags this February as Valentine’s Day and gigantic marketing campaigns take over the brains of young, college-aged romantics.
Valentine’s Day is not a holiday of love, but a holiday of corporate greed.
The United States is projected to spend more than $25.9 billion on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
And what exactly are people spending all of this money one? Giant stuffed animals that will get stuffed in a closet? Chocolate and flowers? An expensive outing which, bless his heart, that poor, love sick fool really couldn’t afford?
What was once about love has become an excuse for companies to shove materialism and gift-giving down our throats to the point that the love is smothered. The expensive gifts make love cheap in that the holiday has become more about wowing your significant other than showering them with genuine affection.
College students, listen up, you are not obligated to buy your partner expensive gifts or flowers. You should only be doing these things because you want to. Which is why it would be so much better to promote spontaneous and thoughtful acts of love regularly throughout the year.
It is also a holiday that bombardes single people with romance movies and ads promoting romantic embraces, and for someone with low self-esteem, being single on Valentine’s Day can be a miserable experience. This marketing campaign plays on people’s insecurities and wishes, and frankly, can create a very unhealthy environment.
Besides, if I see one more heart-shaped jewelry commercial, I will lose my mind.