Greedy corporations have replaced true love with shameless materialism! Today’s hearts are sold, not won! Consumerism has consumed Valentine’s Day!
This time around, the contentions against the holiday grew as cliché as the roses and heart-shaped boxes themselves.
Sure, Valentine’s Day provided an avenue for Hallmark to sell cards, but it also provided an avenue for protesters to sell hollow arguments.
Small news sites such as the La Jolla Patch called Valentine’s Day “a capitalist gimmick” alongside a New York Times article that cast the day as a “mass ritual of public devotion.”
And borders didn’t contain the outcry. A Google news search of “Valentine’s Day consumerism” turned up results from The Times of India and The East African before anything else.
“Most people in East Africa would argue that there is no love or romance about Valentine’s Day, just money and commerce,” wrote East African reporter Christine Mungai.
But the ubiquity of these arguments undermines their sense of urgency.
In a world so constantly aware of corporations’ greed, capitalism loses its malignance.
On Valentine’s Day, Brach’s pressured you to buy Conversation Hearts. But in December, Hallmark tried to sell you cards, and today, Oakley thinks you need a new pair of sunglasses. Advertising is nothing new.
In “The ‘Magic of the Mall,’” printed in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Jon Goss argues that mall developers successfully and dangerously manipulate space to encourage consumption.
He writes of a “disorienting experience” that coerces shoppers to buy.
While my recent visits to valley malls confirmed these techniques, shoppers did not seem oblivious to them as Goss assumes. Rather they are painfully aware.
At Scottsdale Fashion Square, customers expressed discontent with both confusing maps and with the absence of clocks.
“The maps are difficult to read,” said communications freshman Samantha Race. “But they’re trying to get the maximum number of stores in. That’s what they need to do to make a profit,” she added.
Consumers are not all like-minded zombies but individuals with critical thinking skills.
As sellers’ techniques have evolved to include cathedral-like shopping centers, consumers have developed the ability to admire without worshiping.
“Nike’s colorful shoes attract me, and they’re comfortable. But for clothing, I prefer a different brand.” said Reaz Ul Islam, a freshman finance student.
Attitudes like this have rendered the practice of warning shoppers about corporate greed obsolete, if not annoying.
Those who buy into brands and participate in corporate rituals like Valentine’s Day have made the choice to do so — more than likely after hearing the blabber about Western capitalism conquering all.
Those who disagree with the corporatization of Valentine’s Day, or of life in general, can and should find personal outlets to express their differences.
A recent New York Times article discusses “the psychological and intangible sort” of gifts. Countless DIY websites illustrate how to circumvent marketing techniques by creating products at home.
Other sites provide money-saving lists of generic items that live up to their name brand counterparts.
Solutions for evading pricey materialism exist in plenty and provide a constructive use of time.
Savvy citizens trapped in a consumer culture should turn to these solutions, instead of announcing that capitalists want to sell things.
Warn Alex about consumerism at algrego1@asu.edu
