report from the motherplanet

Love’s Super Bowl February 15, 2006

Valentine’s Day commercialized
February 14, 2006 (Albany, NY)

In an apartment near Washington Park three hungry and unsuspecting people order in from Ichiban, a Japanese and Chinese Restaurant on Western and Central Avenue. Sushitime! But instead of the usual 45 minutes the lady on the phone predicts 1 hour and 30 minutes for delivery!

Well, suffice it to say that I was one of the three people and on February 14, 2006 I had to wait for my sushi … for about 2 hours!

How could I not have known? Red and pink heart-shaped boxes and advertisement had announced Valentine’s Day weeks ago in malls and online stores and of course it would hit the restaurants. But where was that nice TV lady who had warned people 10 days ago that if they’d like to order in for the Super Bowl on February 5 they should do so early? She could have told us that Valentine’s Day may have the same effect and to order in might indeed be a bad idea since Albany’s couples were going out for dinner. Anyway, we learned it the hard way and I started asking myself Is Valentine’s Day Love’s Super Bowl? -or as reporter Asad Yawar put it Is Valentine’s Day the New Christmas?

Of course, this is my very personal opinion but in the following I want to show why a blog entry on Valentine’s Day belongs under the business category.

The top three indicators for the commercialization of Valentine’s Day are (in ascending order):

3. BusinessWeek online publishes an article under the headline Valentine’s Day Gifts with a Twist and adds a slide show called A Year of Valentine’s Days suggesting to sign up for a gift-of-the-month-club.

2. Entrepreneur magazine announces Better of Red. Market to sweethearts and see green this February.

1. The leading paragraph of a Forbes article titled Most Romantic Hotels 2006 reads: “Valentine’s Day may ostensibly be about love, but we all know it’s really about commerce. It’s a time when retailers and restaurants look for a little midwinter lift from lovers of all ages and sexes–and too many of us are too in love, cautious or guilty to have the sense to keep our credit cards in our pockets.”

Finally, numbers confirm the suspicion: Businesses loving Valentine’s Day ever more. U.S. consumers’ tokens of affection seen adding up to $13.7 billion this year.

Case closed.