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Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day of love, romance and showing how much you care. But how did it start? And why do we love it so much? Is just a great marketing ploy?!

The first recorded Valentine’s Day was way back in the year 496. The tradition is thought to have originated from a Roman festival called Lupercalia, held in the middle of February to officially mark the start of springtime. Fast forward to 2020 and it’s quite the commercial ordeal. Chocolates, dinners, presents, surprises and so much more…

We take a look at some of our favourite campaigns centred around the big day:

Krispy Kreme have launched a delicious trio of your new favourite flavours, designed in heart shapes with lashings of chocolate, sprinkles of strawberries and nuts, and dipped in even more chocolate.

The brand’s marketing campaign is centred on “It’s a match” – linking to the new flavour combinations, but also hinting to some popular dating apps and TV shows.

What’s not to love, these tasty treats don’t care if you’re coupled up or single (all the more to enjoy for yourself)! Available to order or find instore from 10-16 February. YUM!

Sticking with the food theme, in 2015 Starbucks teamed up with Match.com for the world’s biggest Valentine’s Day coffee date.

Since Match.com reported more than 3 million of its users had ticked “coffee and conversations” within their interests, the brand collaborated and stirred up the world’s biggest coffee date. Inviting their subscribers to meet at Starbucks for a #StarbucksDate, where they could try a new menu of hot beverages “matched” with a yummy treat.

The date was a big hit with more than 9,000 dates taking place. It was the perfect match – social media, coffee and dates!

In 2016 and Virgin Trains promoted the revamp of the trains on its East Coast route with the help of popular TV host, Fred Sirieix (well known for hosting Channel 4’s “First Dates”).

As the face of love, he’s a big advocate for finding your true soul mate. As the face of this campaign, Fred shares his passion for both first-class service and his belief in love. The campaign saw Virgin Trains offering singletons a high-speed, matchmaking train journey from London King’s Cross to York on 14^th February.

In 2018, The Body Shop launched its #SendingAKiss competition, asking their Instagram followers to send in photos of themselves blowing a kiss to a friend. The winner received a gift pack of the brand’s newly released fruit-scented lip balms for them and their “Galentines.”

The beauty in this campaign was its timing – celebrating the launch of The Body Shop’s new “Lip Juicers”. It drove additional brand awareness of the new products, generated a wider audience reach for the new products and competition – through tagging friends and sharing the competition – and encouraged loyal customers to add the new product to their shopping basket and pose with the new product.

Adding a touch of magic this year, we’re excited to hear the Wookey Witch is cooking up a romantic recipe for Valentine’s Day this year. Focusing on love, blessings and commitment, the famous Witch of Wookey will perform her first ever hand blessing ritual in the stunning underground caves.

Lit by atmospheric candlelight and surrounded by millions of years of untouched history, the underground caves are the perfect setting for this romantic gesture. Bringing a touch of magic to the celebration, the Wookey Witch will warm her “heart of stone” for the day and perform individual blessing for couples visiting the tourist attraction on Friday 14^th, free of charge.

And let’s be honest, not everyone loves V Day. Last year online retailer Missguided ran a competition on social with the hashtag #MyWorstDateWas. The competition was to win a £100 voucher for their site (YAY) for their favourite story. Whichever way you look at it, a shopping spree can definitely make you feel better!

Here’s to spreading the love this Valentine’s Day – whether that’s with your partner, best friends, your furry companions or your favourite takeaway!

If you would like to find out more about us at ADPR and our messaging, see ADPR’s guide to maximising your lifestyle brand’s PR campaign

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