What happened to going big on LOVE? Cast your minds back, if you will, to the 90s. I was barely born but the nostalgia is strong. Sense & Sensibility had just come out on DVD. Hugh Grant was snogging Andie MacDowell in the rain. Romcom stars threw pebbles at bedroom windows. Teenagers stood on boomboxes playing ‘I’d do anything for love’ on driveways. Lovers went GRAND and they went FROMAGE. 

The creativity was exceptional. The effort was sexy. And the cheesiness was damn delicious. Good lord, what a time to be in love.

Fast forward to 2025. Apps have commodified dating. Situationships are a thing. You can legitimately date an AI. The most romantic thing about Valentine’s Day is the M&S Love Sausage. And to top it all off, people are shagging less than ever. 

But fear not, at least the brands are here to help spice things up when Valentine’s Day comes around.

Wait, what?

They aren’t???

Erm, where are ze brands?!????

Okay last year Heinz did some limited edition ketchup flavour macarons. Deliveroo did a tie up with Anne Summers (oi oi). Retailers flooded stores with two for one deals. Oh and did I mention the M&S Love Sausage? 

It’s no wonder nobody’s getting any. Yeah it’s stuff. It exists. The product is in there. It kind of does Valentine’s. Probably hit a few KPIs. But isn’t it all just a bit… slop? To be frank, it’s worse than slop (aside from the Love Sausage which gets a hall pass for hilarity). I find the limited editions self obsessed. The collabs lazy. The deals expected. Where’s the point of view? 

Did you know that nearly half (47%) of British couples have no plans to celebrate Valentine’s at all. The main reason for this? They feel it’s all a bit too Hallmark. Come on people! Love is in crisis! We need to go BIG. Unexpected.

Take Match’s Match Made in Hell a few years back. That was making an effort. And people loved it. 

Or when Cadbury 5Star in Mumbai worked with a space scientist to create a time machine in the form of a ship which sails across timezones to cleverly let people skip Valentine’s Day entirely. Freaking time travel. Now that’s a grand gesture. 

I’m also lowkey obsessed with Bronx Zoo’s campaign that lets people name a cockroach after their ex. What a way to harness romantic rage. And this year they’ve updated it with the ability to name a roach after the one you love, because, you know, love lasts forever, just like a cockroach. J’adore. 

A few glimmers of hope in a weary world of sludge. Point is. The world needs more than deals, limited editions and yet another collab. It needs your unique perspectives and interesting attitudes towards love and what it means today. It needs you to make an effort and have a point of view. And it needs you to scream it from the rooftops in all its cheesy detail!

So act like that teenager from the 90s. Be a bit weird, a bit over the top. Without fear of embarrassment or rejection. Stand on a boombox and blast what you believe. 

Oh and remember, love isn’t just for Valentine’s Day.

Let’s ‘av it.