Valentine’s Day: Is it Really a Day of Love or a Way to Gain Profit?

Jam Munsayac, Staff Writer

Heart-shaped candy boxes, fragrant flowers, romantic comedies, and decorated cards are just a few of the many items that are relevant to this holiday. Valentine’s has been a way to show your love and appreciation for your significant other but are companies who overly commercialize this holiday taking advantage of that fact?

Juniors Izzy Cobos and Ryan Brown have been dating for two years now and they don’t see the concept of the holiday as something sweet or cute. “I think all holidays are overly commercialized in general but this holiday is more out there than others,” Cobos said. Brown shares his sentiments on the holiday as he also agrees that Valentine’s has been more of a way for companies to profit off of it rather than the concept of love itself.

This holiday that is meant to commemorate the love you have around you has been any but that, in recent years. Sophomore Caitlin Samella, who has been single for a while now, agrees with Cobos and Brown on the holiday being overly commercialized. “I just feel like it’s overrated,” Samella said. “I think that it’s very one-sided too because I only see guys giving their girlfriends gifts.” 

So what does this say about the holiday in general? Although other holidays such as Christmas and Halloween are very popular and promoted all over stores and such, these holidays never lose their meaning or their purpose. Valentine’s has been a way for people to show not only their love for their significant other, but also their families and friends who have been in their lives for a long time and have been there by their side since day one. Now, it seems that the holiday has been a way to only celebrate couples and has been made to make single people jealous and bitter.

In our culture today, Valentine’s has been important and companies like Hallmark know this. If you go to your local store and find the cards section, you’ll notice that Hallmark has an extensive amount of cards with multiple designs that you can choose from. Whether or not this holiday is taken advantage of because of its essence, it has changed over the years from just being a day for celebrating romantic partners to including anyone you love, whether it be your friends, family, or pets.