Anagha Sudhindra

With an abundance of Valentine’s day gifts and marketing lining the shelves, consumers feel forced to buy expensive gifts to demonstrate their love.

Valentine’s Day celebrations just do not seem right without a surplus of pricey roses, chocolates and jewelry lining the shelves. People stock up gifts for their significant other without giving a second thought to the steep premium coming out of their pockets. Americans are spending more now than ever on romantic gestures. Gifts have become customary, and time well spent seems like an unnecessary formality. 

In America, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to exceed a tremendous $27.4 billion this year, a 32% increase from last year. This astronomical increase is due to consumerism: the artificial value placed on materialistic items to encourage spending among consumers. Valentine’s Day, similar to many other holidays, has been overrun by the so-called deals, stresses and mandatory gifts expected to make the day just right.

Junior Leila Assadi confronted the societal obligation of buying gifts for these supposedly genuine holidays. “It is kind of a US cultural thing to give gifts for everything: birthdays, holidays, whatever. So I think on Valentine’s day, in pretty much every store and every online website you see marketing tactics about Valentine’s day, so I think it pushes more gift giving instead of spending time.”

Excessive and pushy marketing surrounding Valentine’s Day furthers the stress about finding the perfect gift and pleasing your partner. Junior Pranav Suresh identified the source of this anguish to be the pressure of making it the “perfect day.” “Companies have warped the idea of what it is to show affection. [They] have exploited the idea that if you don’t get something expensive for your partner, you don’t love them enough. They’ve convinced people into thinking overpriced diamond rings are needed or else you don’t love each other.” 

Corporations have transformed a holiday intended for celebrating love and connection into one focused on materialistic trifles. By luring people into spending money as a sign of affection, companies garner a hefty revenue while society is compelled to compete in the most extravagant, perfect treatment for their significant other.

These gifts are not only materialistic and impersonal emotionally, but are also extremely unethical and unsustainable. Diamonds and gold are commonly mined by exploited workers, laboring for miniscule wages. The chocolate industry is notorious for slave labor and child labor, allowing tons of chocolate to be produced at a fraction of the cost it is sold, yet all the profits flow back to the corporation.  

Though gift giving seems to have the right intent–a lovely gesture of affection–it often comes off as impersonal and thoughtless. People seem to be forgetting the most valuable gift of all: time. Time put to use creating an intimate, unique gift or spent making memories shows that special someone how important they are. Suresh recommended the best way to give meaningful gifts. “People should prioritize giving their significant other something only they could, something that shows they put their care and thought into it, not something a company has told you to buy as a sign of love.”

Gifts deemed by companies as signs of love have seeped through the cracks of true affection. At-home celebrations are no longer in the top five most popular ways to spend Valentine’s Day though they hold the most intimacy and personalization, not to mention pandemic-related safety. In a profit-centered society, time simply does not hold enough value.

Rather than falling for companies’ ploys by purchasing a pricey, impersonal gift for your significant other, consider taking a more personal, intimate route. Personalized gifts rather than overly expensive gifts hold more meaning on Valentine’s Day. They signify the importance of your relationship and show your partner how important they are, not to mention the ethical benefits on the Earth. Spend time rather than money on gifts to avoid the dreaded basic, expensive gift–a turn off for your partner and your pockets.