'Valentine's Day': why Brazil is 'against' and celebrates Valentine's Day in June?
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 in most places in the world, but in Brazil it became Valentine's Day, on June 12
February 14 is known worldwide as "the most romantic day in the world". Called "Valentine's Day" (or Valentine's Day), the date celebrates what is known in Brazil as Valentine's Day.
But here it is not celebrated today - in fact, not even close to that. Since 1948, the country has celebrated this romantic date on June 12. It coincides with the eve of St. Anthony's Day, known as a matchmaking saint, but the reason for this has little to do with religious significance - it was exclusively commercial.
The idea of establishing a "Valentine's Day" celebration came from publicist João Doria, father of the current governor of São Paulo. Owner of the Standart Propaganda agency, he was hired by the Clipper Exhibition store with the aim of improving sales results in June, which were always very weak Then, joining the useful and the convenient, Doria created the first advertisement that would institute the date in the country.
"It's not just kisses that prove love!", Said a slogan for the first Brazilian Valentine's Day. "Don't forget: love with love pays off," said another. Advertising was judged the best of the year by the Paulista Advertising Association at the time.
Valentine's Day advertising slogan created by João Doria
The date began to "catch" in Brazil the following year, when more regions started to join it - later, the celebration became national.
Currently, "Valentine's Day" is already the third best date for commerce in the country - behind Christmas and Mother's Day. The average billing for the romantic day is close to R $ 1.5 billion.
Valentine
The origin of St. Valentine's Day, celebrated in the United States and Europe, predates Valentine's Day in Brazil.
The so-called Valentine's Day began to be celebrated in the 5th century - the first official day of the saint was declared on February 14, 496 by Pope Gelásio, in honor of a martyr who had that name.
There are some explanations for the story, but the most famous is that St. Valentine was a priest from Rome who was sentenced to death in the 3rd century.
According to this account, Emperor Claudio 2 banned marriages in that century because he believed that married men became worse soldiers - his idea was that singles, without any family responsibility, could do better in the Army.
Valetim, however, argued that marriage was part of God's plan and made sense of the world. So he went on to break the law and organize ceremonies in secret.
When Claudius found out, he was arrested and sentenced to death in the year 270.
But during the period in which he was imprisoned, the now holy man fell in love with the daughter of a jailer. On the day of the sentence, he sent a love letter to the girl signing: "from your Valentine" - which originated the modern practice of sending cards to the loved one on February 14th.
But it was only two centuries later that the date began to be effectively celebrated, when Pope Gelásio instituted St. Valentine's Day, classifying it as a symbol of lovers.
The celebration was created in response to an ancient tradition that would have originated in a three-day Roman festival called Lupercalia.
The event, which took place in the middle of February, celebrated fertility. Its aim was to mark the official beginning of spring.
Valentine's Day is famous even in some Muslim countries - where it generates controversy and protests, often
As part of the celebrations, young people raffled off girls' names mixed in a box. The two then became lovers during the party, and could even get married.
In the following centuries, the Church decided to eradicate pagan celebrations and therefore turned the event into a Christian celebration, in honor of St. Valentine.
But there are at least two other historical figures who competed for the title of St. Valentine associated with that date.
One is a bishop from a city near Rome - in the region of present-day Terni - and the other, a martyr from North Africa.
As much more information is not known about these two other figures. The priest from Rome ended up becoming the most well-known Saint Valentine.
Business success
Valentine's Day still earns considerable revenue in the United States.
According to the National Retail Federation, the expectation is that the most romantic date of the year will bring US $ 20.7 billion (R $ 77 billion) into the US economy in 2019 - an amount that, if confirmed, it will break the 2016 record, when consumers spent $ 19.7 billion on the celebration.
However, despite record spending, the number of Americans planning to celebrate the date has dropped: from 60% a decade ago to 52% today, according to the retailers' association.
"Although more consumers say they are not 'officially' celebrating February 14, many still set the date in some way," adds the entity. "A quarter of people who are not going to celebrate it admit that they still plan to give something special to themselves, meet with other single friends or even buy an 'anti-Valentine's Day' gift."
At the same time, those who decide to celebrate the date have spent more money on it: between 2009 and 2019, average consumer spending on Valentine's Day increased by $ 60.
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