The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.14 THE $20 BILLION DOLLAR HOLIDAY?! Valentine’s Day $$$ Ridiculousness and Its Dark History

Episode Date: February 14, 2019

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. Today we're gonna do something a little bit different because I'm actually, I'm not here right now. I'm not in the studio. This was filmed in the past. Although, I mean, technically all of these videos were filmed in the past. Even that, and that, and even this clip, and that clip, that clip, and that clip. And all the things that in this now do not exist yet, but in your now that is the past. A little bit of loop, you haven't been sleeping well. Today we're gonna be discussing everyone's favorite

time of year, disappoint your significant other day. Or as Hallmark likes to call it, Valentine's Day. Now if you've gone to a major department store any time after New Year's, you've seen it, right? It's pyramids, plush teddy bears, elaborate displays of chocolate heart boxes, so many flowers, and that's without mentioning all this advertised stuff on TV.

Guys, this Valentine's Day, size really does matter. So if you want to score big points with your valentine, go big with the Big Hunk of Love Bear from Vermont Teddy Bear. This Valentine's, give her what she's been waiting for. Donate the cookies! Treat your valentine at a store near you. Those are from my mom! You are the ones who have a vision for what could be,

pushing to go further for the moment that matters. Yes, you are the ones who will go all night long. Valentine's Day is coming. Get ready with Trojan condoms. Although at least with that last one, I can't shame safe sex. You know, there is that question, why do we, and I'm using that very loosely,

because I know some of you don't, but why do we as a whole, why do we spend billions of dollars every year on this stuff and how did Valentine's Day become associated with love? Well, for that answer, we have to go back, like way back to third century Rome back. During the roaring 200s, Emperor Claudius II ruled Rome with an iron fist

and he was known for waging bloody military campaigns, but these campaigns were largely unpopular with Roman citizens and Claudius had a difficult time recruiting soldiers. And Claudius, he believed that Rome's men were too attached to their wives to join his army, so he took the very reasonable step of banning all marriages and engagements in Rome, but at the same time there was a priest

by the name of Valentinus that wasn't on board with this and he performed Christian wedding ceremonies in secret. And unfortunately for Valentinus, his secret ceremonies were ultimately discovered and he was arrested and sentenced to death. And with all of this set up, here's where the this happened so long ago we can make up anything we want part of this takes over.

According to legend, which is my favorite way to start a sentence, while Valentinus was waiting in jail, one of his judges, a man named Asterius, paid him a visit and told him that he had a blind daughter. So Valentinus prayed for the girl and naturally cured the daughter of her blindness and in the process convinced Asterius to convert to Christianity. He then apparently also saw a brilliant marketing opportunity and left a farewell note for the daughter signed from your Valentine.

And was then promptly beaten to death with clubs and beheaded on February 14th. But as a consolation prize he was later named a saint by the Catholic Church. Now if all of this sounds too good to be true, it most definitely is. Some historians say that Valentine's Day is actually supposed to celebrate a different saint named Valentine, who was also executed on February 14th by Claudius, but in a different year. And in fact, there are several other Valentines

that lived at different time periods that could have all been smushed together into one legend. Another even weirder theory is that Valentine's Day is an offshoot of a Roman festival called Lupercalia. It was celebrated from February 13th to 15th and it involved some, I'd call it S&M stuff, but that really only scratches part of this. Like for example, some stuff that doesn't fit into that box,

the men would sacrifice a goat and a dog, which to me sounds like the end of a party, but apparently this was the beginning of this party. Then everyone would get drunk and naked and the women would be whipped with the sacrifice animals hides in order to promote fertility, as one does. There was also a matchmaking lottery where single men would draw women's names from a jar

and be paired with them for the duration of the festival. But by the time the fifth century came around, Pope Galatius the kink-shamer had enough of Lupercalia and decided to replace it with a nice, wholesome celebration of St. Valentine. However, despite that, some people believe that certain elements of Lupercalia are still reflected in our Valentine's Day tradition.

For example, the red and white colors that have become a staple of the holiday also represent the blood of Lupercalia's sacrificed animals and the milk used to wipe the blood clean. Because nothing says love like milky blood sacrifice. And the History Channel even goes as far to claim that some non-Christians still recognize the ancient event on February 14th

instead of Valentine's Day and celebrate in private. For Fido's sake, let's hope that's not true. Now in order to understand how Valentine's Day became associated with love, we have to turn to your high school English class and remember the 14th century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Feels so fancy saying his name. He's the uh, the Canterbury Tales guy. Chaucer was actually one of the first to refer to Valentine's Day in the context of love with his poem, The Parliament of Fouls. According to Dartmouth English professor Peter Day in the context of love with his poem, The Parliament of Fowls. According to Dartmouth English professor Peter Travis, the poem, quote, explores the ideals of cosmic order, political order, and erotic desire,

all dramatized in a raucous debate carried on by a parliament of birds. At the end of this argument concerning the nature and purpose of love, nature encourages all her birds to choose their appropriate mates. And specifically to what we're talking about today, the poem includes a line that reads, "'For this was on St. Valentine's Day, "'when every fowl comes there his mate to take.'" That's not. Little did Chaucer know that line

would launch a multi-billion dollar industry. And this tradition eventually reached the United States, where during the Industrial Revolution, big corporations began producing factory-made cards. And all of this culminating in the Hallmark Company releasing mass-produced valentines in 1916. And all of this culminating in the Hallmark Company releasing mass-produced Valentines in 1916. And with each passing year, Americans have shelled out more and more money on this holiday.

Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, Americans alone spent an estimated $19.6 billion on Valentine's Day last year, which is also roughly the GDP of Nepal. And this year, it's supposed to be onwards and upwards, with the NRF predicting more than $20 billion in sales.

And reportedly, the breakdown is $3.9 billion jewelry, $3.5 billion evening out, $2.1 billion clothing, $1.9 billion flowers, $1.8 billion candy, $1.3 billion on gift certificates, and finally $933 million on greeting cards. Here's what's interesting though, despite these record numbers, the attitude towards Valentine's Day is changing,

probably reflected in the comments down below that were submitted before we even got to this point. Back in 2009, a full 72% of adults aged 18 to 34 and 65% of adults aged 35 to 54 said they planned on celebrating Valentine's Day. But here we are 10 years later and those numbers have plummeted with just over half of adults under 55 saying that they'll be celebrating this year. And according to previous polling from the NRF, the top reasons consumers said they weren't interested in Valentine's Day anymore was probably what you'd expect. It's over commercialized or they just didn't have anyone to celebrate with. But with that said of course then we have the question,

well what accounts for the increased consumer spending? Well, there may be less of us buying into this holiday, but those of us who are, are spending way more. In fact, spending per person has gone up $60 since 2009, with the average consumer dropping $162 on Valentine's Day expenses. Also, remember those who say they aren't officially celebrating Valentine's Day? Well, a full quarter of them also say they still plan

on recognizing the holiday in some way. Whether it's treating themselves to something special, like an extra pint of ice cream that pairs very well with tears as they fall asleep to the notebook. Am I crying about the movie or am I crying about me? So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. And we're gonna have to work at this every day, but I wanna do that because I want you. Or maybe they plan to get together with their single friends or go to a singles-only February 14th party. Also, there are those who choose to forego tradition and celebrate Valentine's Day with a hairy living creature.

No, not Hugh Jackman, although I'll definitely use him for the thumbnail. I'm talking about pets. Reportedly, a full quarter of consumers under the age of 35 said they planned on buying a Valentine's Day gift for their pet. Also, some Valentine's Day haters say they plan on purchasing an anti-Valentine's gift, right?

Like a happy capitalistic couples day card or Cupid is stupid wine glass or really anything else. But at the same time, you're still feeding into it even if you think that you're not. You're still kind of sort of feeding the beast just in a different way. But while Valentine's Day may have turned into this hyper-commercialized, oversaturated mess

of a holiday that's a mixture of guilt and stress, it can also serve as like this little reminder to be thankful for who you have around you. Also in my past, it served as a fantastic way for me to find out who I'm not compatible with. You know, like if money is tight and you can't do something on Valentine's Day and it becomes a thing,

get the hell out of that relationship. You will never be able to do enough. Yeah, that's how I look at Valentine's Day and all those other days is these kind of blips, these reminders, things that don't necessarily have to be done on that day. And we should be just thankful for all the different fantastic people in our lives. Or it means nothing, like life in general.

We all die alone no matter how much love we have around us. We got a one way ticket in and a one way ticket out and honestly if you're stressed about things like that, if you care too much about this day, you might kinda sorta maybe need to reassess what you're doing with this little blip of a life you have on this flying rock. Wasn't that fun? It was like a whole story slash history lesson and then at the end I kinda like killed your dog in front of you.

Did I mention I'm a little bit loopy? But where I'll leave you nation is, whether you have someone or you don't, I love your face. I hope you're having a fantastic Valentine's Day or at least a completely not miserable Valentine's Day and I will see you next time.