For some people, Valentine’s Day is an excuse to spend a romantic night with the person they love. Whether that night consists of a fancy dinner, a trip to the movies or a relaxing date on the ol’ couch with a carton of Chinese food, people tend to enjoy the opportunity to let loose, and even spend big, for a little romance.
However, for some people, Valentine’s Day can be a stressful or even meaningless holiday. After all, there are plenty of single people out there who could care less about what a random day in February has to do with that crazy little thing called love. There are also legions of clueless men out there (you know who you are) for whom today means a frantic scramble for gifts and reservations. That’s right, believe it or not, guys tend to forget things like Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries and deodorant—there’s a reason dads and middle-aged men have served as punching bags and punch lines in countless movies and TV shows over the years. Here’s looking at you, Phil Dunphy.
The best gift since your parents gave you life. #ValentinesDaySucks #KeepOnSucking pic.twitter.com/Kr8EnoEcNh
— JOLLY RANCHER (@Jolly_Rancher) February 13, 2018
This Valentine’s tradition—we’ll call it the last minute scramble—is not lost on companies looking to capitalize on the holiday. With its latest tongue in cheek stunt, Hershey Co.’s Jolly Rancher brand is looking to do just that.
For its #ValentinesDaySucks campaign, Jolly Rancher has unveiled a last minute gift for procrastinators out there who are looking to mix laughter and love—as well as to avoid showing up empty-handed to a date.
The company has released a line of jewelry that resembles its colorful hard candy. For its marketing strategy, Jolly Rancher took to social media, posting pictures of models wearing the jewelry with funny taglines such as “jewelry: a great way to start or end a relationship” and “the romantic gesture that she will think is ‘okay.'” The brand also ran a promotion from Feb. 12-13 asking followers to post embarrassing or cringe-worthy Valentine’s Day experiences for a chance to win the jewelry.
With these faux-gems, Jolly Rancher is the latest in a long line of brands that have recently used humorous promotional products to promote their business. This includes Stove Top’s hilarious Thanksgiving Dinner Pants, which came complete with a stretchy waistband for the overeaters amongst us, as well as Arby’s’ Meat Sweats, sweatpants decorated with a delectable pattern of … stacked meats.
While these campaigns may seem too zany or crude to be true, plenty of companies have seen success by releasing brand-related promo items that aren’t afraid to get weird. With its fake candy jewelry, Jolly Rancher is proving that it’s game while showing procrastinators some love. Happy Valentine’s Day indeed.
