Ah, yes, it is officially the time of year when we celebrate love with overpriced bad chocolates and flowers that usually die in a day or two. But, take a moment before you get lost in the gifts, the glamor, or maybe even that suffocating lonely feeling. Have you ever wondered: Is Valentine’s Day really about love? Or is it just a capitalist trap intended to boost the economy?
Conspiracy theorists are certain that holidays have the sole purpose of separating you from your hard-earned cash. Sure, there is a saint involved with this holiday, but there’s a very important question that lingers: Did Saint Valentine want people to spend their money, or was it just a really big marketing scheme that ended up going the wrong direction?
Let us dive into this theory!
3rd century Saint Valentine or 2025 Saint Capitalism?
The Valentine’s Day that we are all familiar with did not just magically appear on the calendar one night. Instead, it is very deeply rooted in Roman history. In Roman Empire history, it is believed that Saint Valentine would marry individuals in secret. Similarly, both Historians and Conspiracist enthusiasts agree that this particular Saint most likely did not make everyone fall in love with a powerful empire on February 14th. However, after the rise of the 19th century, capitalism was on a massive increase in the encouragement of purchase, followed by the production of cards, flowers, and even chocolates. This was not a spontaneous act to buy your significant other, friend, or even yourself romantic items….it was pure smart marketing.
Some conspiracists like to argue that the real silly masterminds behind capitalizing on Valentines found a way to buy stuff in the dead middle of winter when consumer spending is at an all-time low.
The Rise Of Influencers In The Love Economy
Now that the history stuff is out of the way, due to the rise of influencers on Tiktok, Instagram, and that old dinosaur app YouTube, they formulate themselves around making content about Valentine’s trends, which is a huge driving force of 2025’s modern commercialization of the holiday.
Valentine’s Day is no longer a day to do cute things for your loved ones it has turned into curating the perfect romantic experience to post on social media for your followers to envy. Companies and influencers both impact consumerism numbers via the promotion of buying useless items that you do NOT need through posts and or videos. At this point, this holiday is a complete influencer day in which it feels as if they decide on what we purchase for our significant others and or vice versa, asking your boyfriend to get you something you saw on tiktok before you fell asleep (btw if you have to ask…maybe find a new man).
According to Cache Financial, every year, February 14th makes the economy fall back in love with its money because it makes 25.9 billion dollars. It makes billions based on the supply and demand of the holiday market in terms of what companies are pushing out to gain more customers. This is a fascinating fact because it proves that people go shopping to show their love in every possible way. Thus, it feels to us (the true victims of this capitalist holiday and its grand schemes) that the only way to love someone in February lies within receipts from what you bought.
We are Living In A Material World or whatever madonna said
So here is a question: Are we being played by huge corporate overlords?
There are people in between who agree and disagree with this question. However, it is interesting to see how our emotions are tied to materialistic possessions, which became the hardest test on Valentine’s day to see how much you want to spend on your “love”.
Kudos to those who spend hundreds of dollars on things like jewelry and get the fancy dinner that then comes the flood of soical media pictures that feel repeated throughout the entire day. In a bigger sense, this strategy is helping capitalism move right under our fingertips.
Cupid Loves Capitalism
Whether you are a conspiracy theorist, single, or a hopeless romantic; Love is way more than a price tag and a cart full of items waiting to be purchased; it is a celebration. It is very important to say that February 14th is just one day out of many and love should be celebrated in ways that do not involve the swiping of your debit cards. So yes, Valentine’s Day is a capitalist TRAP for spending your hard-earned money. And where influential pressure is built upon the purchasing, the posting, and the forgotten feeling of being loved.