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In 2004, officials in the Chinese city of
Tianjin cancelled a supermarket kissing contest planned for Valentine's
Day. They decided to hold a love song contest at the "Everybody
is Happy Supermarket" instead. The city was deemed too conservative
for a longest-kiss contest.
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Conservative members of the Hindu party Shiv
Sena in India put on demonstrations to burn Valentine's Day cards
in 2003, finding the holiday "obscene." The party asked
the government to ban Valentine's Day because it is an assault on
Indian values. Despite the concerns, supermarkets across India kept
Valentine cards in stock.
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In England, Londoners are the most likely
to send Valentine's Cards
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Cadbury, the British Chocolate company, uses
the Milk Tray "Man in Black"-this advertising James Bond-type
hero goes on secret missions to deliver chocolates and stays with
the ladies to enjoy the rewards of his gift. American advertisers
prefer to stick to less provocative sentiments.
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The British tradition is that a man takes
out his mistress on February 13th and his wife on February 14th.
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Despite grumbles of American cultural corruption,
Poland is celebrating Valentine's day more and more
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In Japan, women buy giri choco or "obligation
chocolates" for their co-workers for Valentine's Day, and a month
later, on "White Day" male co-workers are expected to give
gifts back. Since these polite chocolates are a boon to retailers,
it's a commercial disaster when Valentine's Day falls on a weekend-giri
choco purchases plummet.
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Whereas the US gets its roses from South America,
India sends its roses to Holland, Japan, China, Singapore and Italy
Sources:
Written and researched by Sylvie Beauvais, Philadelphia,
PA
Adapted from Parul Gupta "Indian hardliners fail to blunt cupid's
arrow for Valentine's Day" Agence France Presse, February 13, 2003;
"Chinese officials cancel Valentine's kissing contest after controversy"
Agence France Presse, February 13, 2004; Naoko Nakamae and Olivia Jensen
"Japanese consumers start to reign in the giving" Financial
Times, March 15, 1999; Jon Rees, "Advertising & Marketing:
What's the price of love?" Sunday Business, February 13, 2000.
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