While we reminisce about candy grams and heart-shaped pizza slices from middle school, Valentine’s Day is big business, regardless of your conspiracy theory that it’s a made-up holiday crafted by the fine folks over at Hallmark.
Valentine’s Day by the Numbers
Americans sure love Valentine’s Day. This is how much we’re expected to spend this holiday.
$1.8 billion on candy
$2 billion on flowers
$4.7 billion on jewelry
On average, we’ll spend $161.96 (let’s round it up to $162) to dazzle their loved ones. That’s up almost 20 bucks from just a year ago. There’s a lot of competition out there to get your business. And so, some are taking a sweet, perhaps sour approach to Valentine’s Day. Who? What? Hop on, we’re diving into the not so typical. Brace yourself!
- Tweet an ‘Unsmooth’ moment
This one’s for all you candy lovers! Who doesn’t enjoy getting flowers? Now, imagine that bouquet filled with, not roses or daisies, but Snickers bars! Uh huh, sounds amazing, right? You can turn your wildest candy dream into a reality by winning a free creamy Snickers-infused flower bouquet. Simply tweet about a not so smooth moment. Yup, you read that right… you must give a little to get a little. Just use the hashtag #SmoothItOver and tag @Snickers on February 15th for your chance to win. This Valentine’s Day campaign is an effort to promote a new line of creamy Snickers bars and encourages people to share a cringe-worthy V-day moment on Twitter. I mean, if we’re being honest, we all have one!
- Win a Colonel Sanders bearskin rug, a pair of fried chicken onesies and a KFC Gift Card
When we think of Valentine’s Day, Colonel Sanders comes to mind! Okay, not so much, but KFC is hoping to get you in that mindset with the ‘most romantic stunt ever’. We’ll let you be the judge of that. The infamous fried chicken company is asking fans to create their own Colonel inspired artwork and share them on the social media platform, Reddit, in hopes of deepening their connections with consumers who aren’t afraid to show their creative side. Those willing to participate will get the chance to win a date-night package that includes two fried chicken pajama onesies, a gift card, a subscription to an online streaming service for endless date night entertainment and a Colonel Sanders bearskin rug. Sign us up right now! The competition includes a Photoshop battle, storytelling challenge and a drawing duel.
- Get 10 Free Wings When You Shred a Picture of Your Ex
Hooters (wait, they’re still around?), the American restaurant chain known for, umm, you know; is giving patrons the chance to earn ten free boneless wings with its “Shred ’em and forget ’em” holiday special. The promotion is exactly how it sounds. You bring in a photo of your ex to the restaurant and the staff will happily shred the picture right in front of you (insert happy emoji). Revenge never tasted so sweet or spicy or garlicky. Hold your horses though, there is a catch. You have to purchase ten wings to even be eligible. BON APPÉTIT!
- Turn Your Ex into a Cockroach
We’re getting weird with this last one. What if we told you could get a one up on your ex? Would you bite the bait (premature pun)? So, the San Diego Zoo has billed itself as the world’s most famous zoo. Hmm, sure, but that hasn’t been the case in the last week or so. Move over, San Diego, you’ve got some competition from the El Paso Zoo! Random, but totally true.
The El Paso Zoo has made headlines (locally, regionally, nationally and heck, internationally) for a Valentine’s Day promotion. What’s the big deal? We’re glad you asked! This marketing stunt did not involve heart-shaped pizzas or free chocolate. Nope. If you’re squeamish, you may want to scroll down to the next blog post (you really have to read this), as cockroaches are involved. The zoo asked people on Facebook to name a cockroach after their ex, which then would be fed to a Meerkat on Valentine’s Day.
The response was….overwhelming. We’re talking thousands of names were submitted. It was so successful, the zoo had to stop the campaign early. But that’s not all! You could actually watch these carnivores devour your ex via Facebook Live video.
So, as you can see, brands are taking a sweet, but interesting approach to the big day. Some left us scratching our heads but regardless, each had a creative twist that got people talking.
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