Is it time to stop shi*ting on Valentine’s Day?

There was a time when Valentine’s Day meant an explosion of red hearts, teddy bears, and mushy marketing. Every mall, every billboard, and even your inbox was dripping with mushy messaging, love was in the air, even if you were just trying to order groceries.

Then came the rebellion. Brands realised that not everyone was sipping on heart-shaped lattes. Enter the anti-Valentine’s era, where breakups, self-love, and ‘screw romance’ campaigns took centre stage. Suddenly, it wasn’t just single folks rolling their eyes at love, it was brands, too. Brands told people to forget about V-Day and sometimes entirely destroy the idea of it. The narrative shifted from roses to roasts.

Now, look around, and every second ad seems to be dunking on love, turning Valentine’s into the ultimate villain. But have we overdone it? Is it time to retire the heartbreak marketing playbook and bring back the love?

Siddhi Yadav, ECD, McCann India says, "It's best to let people be and not impose our views on them. If you don’t support something, simply step away—there’s no need to oppose it. The world could always use more love, and if people are celebrating with those they care about, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Harshada Menon, ECD, DDB Mudra Group, points out how marketing trends run in cycles and why the anti-Valentine trope is just one campaign away from being questioned.

“I think these things go in phases. Before the rise of anti-Valentine’s Day campaigns, Valentine’s Day itself was the dominant theme in advertising. Eventually, the cycle will shift again. There will come a time when people start saying, ‘Anti-Valentine’s Day is overdone—let’s bring back traditional Valentine’s celebrations.’ Maybe a brand will step up and take that stance soon,” she says. 

The appeal of anti-Valentine

In 2024, India's Valentine's Day sales hit an estimated ₹25,000 crore (approximately $3 billion). Gifting brands like FNP E-Retail reported, delivering a record 350 roses per minute, while Blinkit dispatched 406 chocolates per minute on February 9 alone. Clearly, love isn’t dead, at least not for everyone.

So why did anti-Valentine's campaigns take off? It wasn’t just about being edgy, it struck a chord with audiences who had grown tired of the same, old love stories.

Arpan Bhattacharyya, Executive Director - Head of Creative, Copy (South) at Lowe Lintas, explains, “Challenging anything traditional will always have creative appeal.”

For younger audiences, especially Gen Z, these campaigns resonate even more. Yadav points out that Gen Z tends to reject divisive narratives. “They value inclusivity and believe in expressing love openly and sometimes differently. So, when a brand speaks that language, it automatically feels younger, cooler, and more progressive in its approach.”

But anti-Valentine’s campaigns don’t just challenge convention; they thrive on humour. Most of them lean into roasting the idea of love itself. Bhattacharyya believes this ‘roasting culture’ is why they work. He adds, “Over the last few years, roasting people, things, occasions, etc., has become something that does seem to connect with certain demographics.”

Take Cadbury 5-Star, a brand that has made anti-Valentines its entire identity. This year, it launched ‘Destroying Valentine’s Day’, enlisting Indian uncles to celebrate love, an idea designed to make couples cringe and reconsider the occasion altogether.

However, Yadav also warns that going too niche can alienate potential consumers. “Sure, a provocative campaign might stand out initially, but in the long run, brands benefit from a broader appeal. Even if a campaign has a niche focus, it should still be able to connect with a wider audience. The challenge is making Valentine's Day feel fresh—it's been around for years, so how do you keep it relevant and on-trend? That’s the real creative test.”

At the end of the day, balance is the key. Menon says, “Different people have different perspectives—some take Valentine’s Day seriously, while others don’t. Inclusivity is key. As a brand, you want to engage both sets of audiences. Even if you take a lighthearted jab at one, the other shouldn’t feel left out or offended.”

So, if anti-Valentine’s is working, maybe brands need to reconsider the way they are branding it. They need to think, are they breaking the mould or just repeating the same joke in a different packaging.

Future of V-Day marketing 

If brands want to stand out, the answer to this objective, perhaps, isn’t to go all-in on the anti-Valentine sentiment but to rethink love itself. There’s an opportunity to move beyond both extremes, the sappy and the cynical.

In the past, many brands have attempted to show different sides of love to include more demographics in the celebrations. Last year, MyMuse celebrated modern love in its V-Day campaign #CancelCupid. The campaign had multiple films that elaborated on how everyone ‘loves’ differently and one size doesn’t fit all. 

On the other hand, Wiggles celebrated V-Day by showcasing love for their pets. 

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Yadav thinks that narratives around Galentine’s Day, self-love, or even love for animals could be fresh alternatives. She says, “Instead of centring everything around romantic relationships, why not celebrate love in all its forms? One of the best things I’ve read is the idea that love should be about two complete individuals coming together—rather than searching for a "missing half." We’ve been conditioned to think being single on Valentine’s Day means you’re incomplete, but that’s not true at all. Love can mean embracing what truly brings you joy, whether it’s people, passions, or even pets. That’s a message worth celebrating.” 

This Valentine’s Day, Swiggy Instamart put a playful spin on gifting with Tusshar Kapoor at the centre of it. The ad sees him dancing to his father’s classic song Tohfa, but with a twist, highlighting that gifts aren’t just for a partner but for everyone you love. Whether it’s friends, family, or even yourself, the ad highlights that is Valentine’s Day beyond romance. 

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Menon personally thinks that love doesn’t need a designated day and hence should be celebrated all year around. “Maybe that’s a narrative worth exploring. Why limit love to just one day when it can be acknowledged and cherished every day of the year? Brands could also look at promoting a more continuous and inclusive perspective on love,” she adds. 

So where do we go from here? Bhattacharyya suggests that real, authentic stories about evolving relationships could be the answer. “Challenging traditional themes don’t necessarily have to dismiss the occasion. Relationships and love, both romantic and otherwise, will always be relevant and constantly evolving spaces. Real stories and authentic emotions will always work. Narratives that celebrate newer definitions of love, companionship and romance could be interesting,” he suggests. 

Perhaps it’s time to give the anti-Valentine’s trope a rest. After all, in an era where brands are constantly looking for the next big cultural moment to tap into, there’s one thing we can be sure of, love, in all its forms, will always be a story worth telling.