Now parents are buying Valentine’s gifts for their CHILDREN: M&S, Next and Joules are accused of gratuitous consumerism by selling cards and presents for youngsters on Feb 14
- Parents on Mumsnet about a trend of kids’ gifts for Valentine’s Day
- Shops now offer gifts for parents to give to their children for the occasion
- Mums slammed the trend as unnecessary and ‘weird’ as well as creating another expensive holiday for parents not long after Christmas splurges
Cash-grabbing retailers are being accused of ‘gratuitous consumerism’ after beginning to sell Valentine’s Day gifts for parents to sell to their children.
Companies like M&SNext and Joules have begun to market Valentine’s Day as a family holiday rather than a celebration of romantic love as is traditional.
The trend comes just weeks after Christmas and during a cost-of-living crisis in the UK which is stretching family budgets.
Retailers are trying to reframe their Valentine’s Day items to suit families
Parents on online forum Mumsnet have slammed the fad which has seen parents preparing gift boxes for their children to open on February 14.
A thread titled ‘What new hell is this?’ has seen well over 400 responses on the website.
One reply on the thread noted: ‘Three times today I’ve seen people prepping for making Valentine’s boxes for their kids? Christmas Eve boxes are bad enough but is this a thing now too?’
Another added: ‘I’ve got friends who decorate the whole house [and] put a big Valentine’s spread on; roses for the kids and chocolates and cards for the kids totally weird’.
Some mothers on the forum slammed the manufactured holiday for its reliance on single-use plastics.
Parents on Mumsnet have called the move unnecessary and weird
One eco-conscious mother wrote: ‘We’ve just marked another Christmas, marred by gratuitous consumerism, and are careering toward a similar single-use packaging fest at Easter, can people just rein themselves in please?’
Lifestyle retailer Joules’ website includes a Valentine’s Day section targeted towards babies, girls and boys.
It even has a section for Valentine’s Day gifts for pets.
Even gifts for pets are being touted by cash-grabbing retailers
M&S is offering matching fleecy hooded blankets and monogrammed hot water bottles in their family Valentine’s Day section.
In M&S stores, signs reading ‘love is anything but ordinary’ sit above pictures of a mother, father and child in pyjamas.
Next, the clothing store, has an article on its website suggesting Valentine’s themed gifts for children including baby jumpsuits, teenage tops, and a range of clothes including the words: ‘Mum and Dad’s little Valentine’.
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