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Happy Advervalentinesments Day!
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Nothing says love like discount karate.
Okay, I get that Valentine's day has mostly been co-opted into a "Hallmark Holiday," used to sell dopey heart-plastered merchandise. But I like being able to at least maintain the pretense that the holiday isn't entirely about advertising.
But the Valentine pictured at right really makes it tough on me.
When a "Valentine" actually gives you the name and phone number of the business you should patronize, and includes a strings-attached offer of “ONE FREE MONTH OF MARTIAL ARTS!” it’s tough to ignore the disconnect with the holiday of unconditional love.
Are you supposed to be learning how to give a good karate chop to anyone who breaks your heart? A roundhouse kick to your romantic rival?
The vast majority of the Valentines my kids brought home from school featured copyrighted characters: Iron Man,™ " Tow Mater™ from Disney/Pixar's Cars™ (que romantico!), and Thomas The Tank Engine,™ exclaiming "Hope It's Full Steam Ahead To A Happy Valentine's Day!" My preschooler even brought home a valentine featuring characters from High School Musical.
I know that these are advertisements for all of the merchandising empires these characters represent. But I can pretend, and so can my kids, that there is nothing more to the message; we can pretend that Iron Man really does want you to have a blast and that Sharpay really does wish you a perfect Valentine’s Day.
But this marketing strategy is crass, exploitative, and just plain tacky. It’s a blow not only to Valentine’s Day, but also to the sanctity of a school as a place for learning, and not as a place where a captive audience of children is served up to advertisers.
Kids get enough messages telling them that they need to get more stuff, see more movies, or be more like someone else in order to be happy. If you don't want to participate in the marketing machine, consider sending your kids to school with Valentines that don’t feature advertising messages – either subtle or, like the example pictured above, just plain obnoxious.
A corny Valentine of yore
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