Thursday, February 05, 2009

A Valentine's Hint

I've been hearing a commercial on XMRadio lately that makes me shudder. You hear a conversation between a man and a woman. The man is asking if his Valentine's gift arrived at the lady's office. She goes on and on about this wonderful teddy bear that he sent her, and about how all her office girlfriends are jealous.

The teddy bear is reported to be eight feet tall! Of course I had to visit the advertised site, BigPlush, which is populated with pictures of eight foot tall bears and monkeys.

The underlying message in the commercial is that, if you love someone a lot, you need to give him/her a large gift. The commercial tries to convince the naive and wanting-to-please man that every woman loves these enormous stuffed animals.

No, no, I say. Guys, bigger is not better in gifts—at least in stuffed animals! And really, a person can have too many stuffed animals.

Resist the urge to buy one of these enormous toys that will just be in the way. (You want it sitting on her bed? Where are you going to sit—or lie?)

I offer to you that less is more for your Valentine's gift. A lovely piece of jewelry is always nice and says, "I cherish you." A dinner out at a restaurant where you don't stand in line to place your order says, "I love spending time with you." A scented candle for her bath or bedroom says, "You light up my life."

There are a thousand suitable gifts. The eight-foot teddy bear ain't one of them!

1 comment:

TJ said...

1) The problem is that gullible women are watching the same commercial. And so the cycle lives on. Worse yet are the jewelry ads.

2) I bought K a box of grade school valentines (Snoopy - a favorite), and put a memory from our time together on each one. I can't wait for her phone call when she gets it.