Valentine’s Day. That season of love, romance, and more love. For many, Valentine’s Day is a mad rush act of booking the perfect restaurant, ordering the perfect arrangement of jaunty roses, and wrapping that perfect, extravagant Valentine gift. While for some, the season of hearts passes by quietly, unceromoniously, just like any other day.
Valentine’s Day has often been criticised as just an excuse for consumerism, an opportunity for businesses. Consequently, the well-meaning tradition of sending Valentine cards has also been unfairly stained by cynics everywhere, as if it is Hallmark’s fault that people are only sending cards perfunctorily, without thought at all, but just to get over the holiday. Indeed, Valentine’s Day is the second largest card-exchanging holiday next to Christmas, making Hallmark the unmistakable industry leader.
Half of the U.S. population celebrates Valentine’s Day by purchasing at least one greeting card, according to Hallmark. And last year, according to an MSNBC report, Americans spent as much as 13.7 billion last Valentine’s Day 2006, up 22 percent from just five years ago.
Other Valentine’s Day statistics are:
85% of all Valentine cards are bought by women.
73% of flowers are bought by men, and only 27% are by women.
Chocolate and candy sales reach profits of $1,011 billion during Valentines.
These are all good Valentine statistics, of course. It just means people are willing to go through any lengths just to make their loved ones feel special on Valentine’s Day, whether that may be in the form of yet another box of chocolates, yet another card in an envelope, or yet another bunch of flowers. After all, it’s still the thought that matters.
But Valentine’s Day also has its share of not-so-mushy statistics.
Approximately one in four Americans do not celebrate the holiday at all. And 15% of American women (and even men) send flowers to themselves on Valentine’s Day.
While the most widely-sent Valentine gifts have always been Valentine’s cards, chocolates, flowers, and dinner out, a new line of unlikely Valentine gifts are gaining popularity in the market, especially in the Internet. Not another virtual Valentine card, but what online psychics are offering: psychic readings, horoscopes, numerology reports, and tarot card readings. Certainly, they are not your usual Valentine’s Day gifts, and that exactly is the point.
They are insightful, helpful, and for a mere 10$ for instance, for just a ten minute psychic phone call, they are quite priceless. What is more is that they certainly last longer than just chocolates and flowers. For best results, though, one can send flowers and chocolates (and cards too!) alongside a psychic reading for their loved ones.
At the end of the day, however one chooses to celebrate Valentines day, what matters is that people have space in their hearts for love the whole year round.