Yipee. It’s V-Day.

Ola amigos, on this very day last year I wrote a rather disparaging (yet hilarious) blog about why no one should ever really be bothered about Valentine’s Day – aside from plucky marketers that is – but this year I’ve been told to be nice.

2019 at Pistachio is all about peace, love, happiness and nice positive thoughts, because let’s face it, everything else in the world right now seems to be going down in a fiery ball of flames, right? So that’s why today, I am being POSITIVE about Valentine’s Day (wahoo) and sharing some of the reasons as to why it is a trés bien thing after all (see, I’m even speaking the language of love, especially pour toi).

So, without further ado, here are some sweet little facts that we’ve lovingly plucked out of the vast wealth of VDay content out there, to highlight why it’s a really great day after all….

Over 50% feel the love:

62% of adults say they celebrate the holiday, which is a rather jolly amount of people all doing their utmost to embrace true love and all that. And, I do commend any event that works hard to bring people together and be more loving toward each other, so bravo to Valentine’s Day for this. So If you, yes you reading this right now, can do something to help someone feel more loved today, then my god please just do it. Apparently every time a singleton smiles today, an angel will get its wings or something.

Men spend more on VDay:

It’s 2019 which must mean that it’s around about time for another gentle man-bashing fact, well everyone else is at it, right? So, it makes me very happy to announce that on average, men spend around 30% more on Valentine’s Day gifts than women. Oooopsies, who knew? I guess the fellahs aren’t all that bad after all hey?

174,000 gallons of prosecco is sold:

That’s right, ya’ll like to get druuuuunkkkk on the most romantic day of the year, and why the hell not? It’s actually much easier to eat a whole box of chocolates whilst under the influence of a heady dose of alcohol, so load ‘em up and knock ‘em back. This fact makes me doubly happy because it helps to keep vineyards (which are some of my favourite places in the entire world) in business, so everyone’s a winner!

*disclaimer – other, non-alcoholic, fizzy drinks are available, and are just as bad for you.

Dating apps SPIKE:

As we’re a digital agency we do love an app stat, or just apps in general, so it’s mega interesting to learn that 3 days before Valentine’s Day, activity on dating apps spikes. This is great knowledge for marketers, but it’s also great to know that human beings really never, ever give up hope. Good for you guys, I’m rooting for you, and every single one of your ill-advised, last-minute Valentine’s hook ups. May St Valentine bless us all.

ASAP Rocky gets paid:

Weirdly, and wonderfully, the ASAP Rocky song ‘F****ing Problems’ was one of the top 10 most played songs on iTunes on Valentine’s Day last year. For those of you not familiar with the tender, heartfelt lyrics of this song, the opening line is ‘I love bad b****es that’s my f*****g problem’. I mean, who doesn’t right? Sooo, yeah, if all else fails today, be sure to pop that track on and crank up the volume.

That all being said, I would also like to point out that Valentine’s Day this is just one relatively unimportant day that’s named after a saint who was murdered, and celebrating it with someone is by no means an indicator of whether or not you are loved. So, just to be sure that we’re all practising good mental health in 2019, let’s everyone have a jolly good time today and spread a little love to those who need it!

All Valentine’s (non) bashing aside, this day is still a widely popular one that helps generate a lot of business for many brands who tap into the sentiment around the celebration and use the momentum to promote a sale or push an engaging campaign. To find out some of the ways that your business can utilise events like this throughout the year to increase visibility or revenue for your brand, get in touch with us today, we’d love to hear from you!