In an article from the New York Times, Stuart Elliot says, "the billions spent for the holiday in 2009 represented a decline of 13.5 percent from the $17 billion spent in 2008, according to the federation." No, this isn't because more people hate Valentine's Day. It's because the economy is in poor condition.
Obviously, retail marketers are going to now take advantage of what the article calls, "frugal valentines." 6,000 people follow Macy's on Twitter. Those who post a love note on their twitter, with "#sweetesttweets" is given the chance to win diamond jewelry. The food-chain, White Castle, is only serving couples who made romantic reservations for this year's Valentine's Day.
Because of the change in the economy, the world of commercialism is being turned upside-down. Rather than Valentine's Day being a day where people buy each other gifts to signify their love, they are entering free contests and eating by candlelight at fast-food chains. It seems that these vendors are no longer counting on the name of the day to bring in the dollars.
Martine Reardon, executive vice president for marketing at Macy’s said, concerning her ad- plans, "The goal is to entertain consumers and offset concerns about the economy." The media are never an accurate reflection of social, political, and now, economic reality. There is always an agenda, whether it is to change things or keep them the same. Marketers want things to stay the same, they want people to want their products.
So is Valentine's Day just a farce, fed to us through media? By the look of things this year, it would seem that way. Our ideas of love are shaped by the media, especially on this holiday-- because the NRF loves our money the way women love their diamond rings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/business/media/28adco.html?ref=business#
Gina
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