Cupid hits a marketing high in the season of romance

• Image Credit: Illustration: Niño Jose Heredia/©Gulf News

OK, forgive me, but I’m not in a very loveable mood.

Yes, I know it’s Valentine’s Day and I know I’m supposed to care. But when you get to my stage in life, you begin to realise that this February 14 thing is a bit of a marketing gimmick.

It’s a Hallmark holiday — a reason dreamt up by marketers, restaurants and chocolatiers, aided and abetted by florists — to suck the dirhams from my wallet.

Cynical? Perhaps. A realist? I hope so. Divorced? Yes, and with the lawyer’s bills and emotional scars to prove it.

It’s the busiest day of the year for restaurants. Card shops will be doing a nice little trade. And pity the poor sod who hasn’t picked up roses from the florists. If there’s a stuffed teddy bear left on a shelf by 6pm tonight, it probably has fleas.

Google “Business on Valentine’s Day” and you’ll be bombarded with more hits than Cupid’s got arrows on how to increase your turnover, up your sales and move more product — all in the name of that four-lettered ‘L’ word.

Love? This holiday is about love of money. And the more the merrier.

In the United States, industry research firm IBISWorld expects today to sweeten retail sales, with consumers forecast to spend 5.8 per cent more on Valentine’s Day purchases this year than last, totalling $18.6 billion (Dh68.41 billion) or about $125 per person.

Jewellery sales are anticipated to record strong growth, increasing 11.3 per cent from February 2010, benefiting companies like Tiffany & Co, Sale Corp and Blue Nile.

Gift choice

“Luxury spending is already on the rise, so it will come as no surprise that bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings will be the go-to gift choice for many Americans,” says IBISWorld retail industry analyst Nicole Panteva. “This year, IBISWorld expects jewellery to make up 7.8 per cent off all Valentine’s Day sales, making its way back to pre-recession levels.”

None of that money will be mine.

Greeting cards and candy — the two staples that define today — are expected to grow steadily as well, increasing 4.9 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively. Sweethearts will also be ordering more flowers this year, with about 16.8 per cent growth.

“Instead of going out for a romantic dinner, time-crunched consumers will opt for easy-to-deliver bouquets and arrangements,” Panteva says, adding that because people will be working today, they will browse online and will place orders for same-day delivery.

Dining out is expected to inch up 3.8 per cent, followed by lingerie and clothing purchases at 3.4 per cent.

Just try and get a seat at a restaurant tonight. As Gordon Ramsay swears, if a restaurant can’t pack ‘em it on Valentines Night, there’s something seriously wrong.

Now, you who are smitten, romantic at heart, may be stung by my hard-nosed words. (That’s fine. You are, as the saying goes, blinded by love.)

To test my theory that today is nothing more than a big opportunity to make money, I called Mamta Saha, a lifestyle psychologist in London. She’s a regular psychologist and expert commentator for Logitech, Santander, Sky News, National BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC London, The Asian Network, Talk Sport Radio, Talk Radio Europe and European Radio. She also runs thinkspalondon.com. With a profile such as hers, I was expecting to hear that I was, indeed, a hopeless case.

“Yes,” Saha tells me, “It has become very commercialised to the point where the meaning of the day itself has been lost.”

So I’m not mistaken?

“All you have to do is look at the amount of coupons being offered by restaurants, retailers, anyone with anything remotely linked to Valentines Day with something to sell and they are promoting their business,” she says.

Flood of discounts

There are discount flowers, discount chocolates, discount teddy bears — pretty much even discounted love.

“I think it’s a well known fact that restaurants jack up their prices for Valentines Day to take advantage of couple who want to celebrate their love together,” she says.

“I don’t think that love based on commercialism can last,” Saha tells me. I couldn’t agree more. “I think that’s very superficial and that’s not what love is all about, Any relationship that is based on material and commercial things is superficial. It’s only as good as the money lasts.”

So given the fact that things are tight now as a result of the financial crisis, debts, cutbacks, job losses, are businesses using today as an opportunity to make up sales?

“Absolutely,” she says. “I think the fact that Valentine’s Day is so big shows that every one is trying to cash in on it. The real meaning of Valentines has been lost.”

Saha was married in November. This year, she says, she’ll stay at home and cook her husband a nice romantic meal.

Me? I think Al Capone knew how to mark Valentine’s Day.