Valentine’s Day is one of the most ideal occasions for businesses to advertise luxurious gifts as a

romantic necessity and sell them to consumers. However, since many decades ago, chocolate is a very
inexpensive commodity that people have also chosen to buy on this day. This treat is always stocked in
vending machines, supermarkets, gas stations, and convenience stores yet, it somehow maintains a
substantial role in this holiday’s tradition.

Valentine’s Day is mostly considered as an international festival celebrating the feeling of love. More
than just being a day for the lovers, the day holds bigger importance. It is a day to show and express our
love to anyone. When we love our parents, we fail to express it sometime. So, the day is a chance to
express our love for our parents, for our family members, and for our friends and closed ones.

Valentine’s Day is one of the most ideal occasions for businesses to advertise luxurious gifts as a
romantic necessity and sell them to consumers.In Harare many wholesalers and retailers are anticipating
much sales on this day because most of the stores seem to.be prepared with hampers,lingerie,
chocolates,and many more gift sets and hampers for the Valentine's day.

However, since many decades ago, chocolate is a very inexpensive commodity that people have also
chosen to buy on this day. This treat is always stocked in vending machines, supermarkets, gas stations,
and convenience stores yet, it somehow maintains a substantial role in this holiday’s tradition. In this
essay, I will begin by discussing some of the historical aspects of this holiday and how chocolate became
one of the main components involved in this celebration. My next section will include a semiotic analysis
of Cadbury’s original Valentine’s Day ad campaign. Afterwards, I will argue that companies in the candy
industry have used this style of advertising to manipulate this product into an over-consumed and
falsely needed symbol for Valentine’s Day shoppers.

The exact point in time of when Valentine’s Day became a tradition is uncertain, but historical records
suggest that a Roman pagan fertility festival first inspired it. Later, around A.D 496, Christian Romans
adopted this celebration into a day of feasts to honour a martyred saint named Valentine . The meaning
of this holiday thematically changed once again in the 1300s, when a new interpretation of its
characteristics spread to European communities through the medium of poetry. It started with Geoffrey
Chaucer, a famous poet who incorporated Valentine’s Day in a poem about lovebirds finding their mate.
His works grew popular, which influenced other artists to produce their own versions of romantic songs
and poems about this festival. By the 19th century, Valentine’s Day evolved into the current tradition of
exchanging gifts and cards with one another to express feelings of affection.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many people are looking for a gift or gesture to say “I love
you.” There were mixed emotions amongst men and women on what they’d like to receive for a
Valentine’s Day gift this year .

When asked what they would like to receive as a Valentine’s Day gift, the most common answer among
women was a bouquet of flowers, chocolates, perfume, car,. lattest iPhone . But for men it was vice
versa only a few mentioned about receiving gifts from their partners on the valentines day,many were
saying that women usually forget about expressing love to their men all they normally want is to receive
rather than giving .