I found this story on Reuters and thought it was interesting/funny…
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No red roses for Saudi sweethearts
Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:18pm EST
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s religious police have banned red roses ahead of Valentine’s Day, forcing couples in the conservative Muslim nation to think of new ways to show their love.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has ordered florists and gift shop owners in the capital Riyadh to remove any items colored scarlet, which is widely seen as symbolizing love, newspapers said.
“They visited us last night,” the Saudi Gazette quoted an unidentified florist as saying.
It is not unusual for the Saudi vice squad to clamp down ahead of Valentine’s Day, which it sees as encouraging relations between men and women outside of wedlock, the newspaper said.
Saudi Arabia imposes an austere form of Sunni Islam which prevents unrelated men and women from mixing, bans women from driving and demands that women wear a headscarf and a cloak.
Relations outside marriage are strictly banned and punishable by law.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Giles Elgood)
“Men grow cold as girls grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end
But square cut or pear shaped
These rocks don’t lose their shape
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”
Everyone’s favourite Hallmark holiday is just around the corner….Valentine’s Day.
I refer to Valentine’s Day as a Hallmark holiday because it exists predominantly for commericial purposes.
Stereotypically speaking, it’s the day women love and their significant others dread.
Most times, you’ll find long line-ups at florists, Godiva stores , La Senza locations and of course jewelers.
Not every man may choose a diamond as a Valentine’s Day gift, but some will and have – or will eventually go that route.
This got me thinking about why diamonds are associated with love. Why do we call this gem “a girl’s best friend”?
Well, I’ve got the answer.
It’s because a brilliant PR group crafted and executed a well-orchestratred PR campaign!
According to research done for diamond giant De Beers, “90 per cent of all engagement rings are purchased by young men.”
So the key message the PR team came up with:
“Diamonds are a gift of love — the larger and finer the diamond, the greater the expression of love.”
(If you’re finacee, boyfriend or husband opted for the .5 carat, apparently, he’s got to go)
The team also had to promote the idea that diamonds played a vital part in any romantic courtship.
So what did they do?
Well, movie idols (think Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) were given diamonds to use as a symbol of their unbreakable love. De Beers targeted key magazines (think People, US, HELLO, Star, etc.) and newspapaers and placed stories in them stressing the size of the rock male celebrities presented to their special ladies.
This move reinforced the link between diamonds and love.
Now, think of all the fuss the media created around the engagement ring Ben Affleck presented to Jennifer Lopez.
(By the way, it was a 6-carat radiant-shaped pink diamond from Harry Winston that reportedly cost Affleck a hefty $1.2 million). BIG RING = STRONG LOVE
Whatever celebrity relationship (or any relationship) you decide to disect, it’s clear that DeBeers and their PR team got their message across.
Three years after the PR plan was executed, diamond sales went up 55 per cent and the PR team established that diamonds are forever.You can probably guess which theory popped up in my head while I researched this PR plan. Of course, it was the Engineering of Consent. The PR team successfully linked a product (diamonds) to peoples’ unconscious desires (love).
Through art of manipulation, a healthy portion of the world’s population now measure their love for their special lady/man with the kind of diamond they purchase.So men, you can thank De Beers and the crafty PR team they hired when you walk into a jewelry store and feel forced to fork out more than you really wanted to.
Happy shopping!
