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It's the (no gagging) thought that counts

Anti-Valentine's Day cards and events find a hot market among the jaded and unsentimental.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 13, 2007

CLEVELAND - For Lori Schwartz, a happy mom with a decade of wedded bliss under her belt, the greeting card featuring a bloodied, ripped out heart was perfect.

"It's Valentine's Day, so here's a card with a heart inside," it read. "I'd tell you whose it is, but the less you know, the better."

"My husband and I never get nice cards for each other. We're not into sentiments," Schwartz said while perusing an aisle of anti-Valentine's Day cards at an American Greetings Corp. store.

Sensing a growing trend - and more potential customers - American Greetings has started a new line of expressions for lovers who would rather be big goofs than big flirts. There are cards for singles not struck by Cupid's arrow and those with general disdain for Feb. 14.

From nightclub parties to bar-hopping bus tours for singles - and plenty of purposely loveless merchandise to go along with them - the anti-Valentine's Day crowd is proving to be an opportunity for some businesses.

"For everyone, Valentine's Day isn't just about hearts and roses," said Alana Campana, Valentine's Day program manager at American Greetings of Cleveland. "It's really an unmet market."

And it's potentially huge.

Valentine's Day is the second-biggest holiday behind Christmas for cardmakers, with 190-million valentines - 85 percent bought by women - being sent each year, excluding classroom exchanges, Campana said.

So marketers saw an opening when the U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier this year that 51 percent, or 61-million, of the nation's women are single, outnumbering married females for the first time.

Ellen Garbarino, a marketing professor at Case Western Reserve University, said it makes sense for businesses to tap into singles because the segment of anti-Valentine's supporters who are against the premise of an invented holiday are a harder sell.

For singles, "a lot of it is, 'I'm going to refuse to sit here and wallow,' " Garbarino said. "This makes it a more marketing-friendly (anti-Valentine's) holiday version."

Popular this season are anti-Valentine's Day events, including a "Love Bites the Hand That Feeds It" cabaret show by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco.

The Internet abounds with links to anti-Valentine's Day message boards, blogs and products such as Love Kills Slowly shot glasses.

The Corner Alley, an upscale bowling alley and nightclub in downtown Cleveland, is throwing a Love ... Spare Me! party promising unromantic music and "love stinks" drink specials.

"Everybody seems to do something for couples, and I think people forget that there are a lot of single people out there," said general manager Adam Kleinhenz.

Matt Brick of Sacramento, Calif., who runs AntiVDay.comcq and SinglesAwareness.comcq, said he's not surprised American Greetings and others are trying to cash in on the trend.

"It is not just single people who dislike the holiday. Many people who are married or in a relationship don't like the holiday either," the self-described happily married man said. "The holiday creates a lot of pressure, both emotionally and financially."

Down with love

A sample of anti-Valentine's Day card messages from American Greetings Corp.:

- - -

Outside: A metallic purple card featuring a silver heart under the "no" (circle-with-a-slash) symbol.

Inside: "Valentine's Day: When hell and holidays collide."

- - -

Outside: A drawing of a young woman under the heading "I promise, you won't be alone forever."

Inside: Drawings of dozens of felines. "I know how much you like cats. Happy Valentine's Day."

- - -

Outside: A photograph of a handsome man beside what looks like an online dating profile that appears to be perfect - "Why should I spend my Sundays watching the big game, when I could be giving you a rubdown?" His goal is "to really help make the world a better place, once I'm paroled in 2026."

Inside: "Happy Valentine's Day."

Associated Press

[Last modified February 13, 2007, 08:29:00]