Everyone loves a bargain. Yet, at first glance the recently released Asda ‘smartprice’ 7p Valentine’s Day card appears to be the ultimate symbol of a cheapskate’s way out. This is exactly the reaction I get from those I ask, who are outraged at the cheek of someone willing to spend so little on a loved one. Admittedly, you probably wouldn’t be too impressed on receiving this from someone as a indicator of their affection for you. Perhaps, though, there is something more significant lurking behind this inoffensive and flimsy paper offering. Maybe, instead of conforming to an ever-growing need for unprecedented bargains in the cash-strapped recession culture of today, Asda are in fact offering something much more subtle and innovative for this year’s take on Valentine’s Day.
Trying to see past the initial surprise of the price and discover exactly why this card has found its way onto the market, I wondered if Asda may have actually come as close as is physically possible to sending that illusive and meaningful ‘thought’, without any of the elaborate trappings of a traditional Valentine’s day card which potentially distract from its sincerity. The tradition of communicating affection is as old as time, and has culminated in one of the best-known clichés; ‘it’s the thought that counts’. With a price as low as 7p one thing’s for sure, Asda ensures that this time it’s definitely not the price that ‘counts’, so, logically then, it must be the ‘thought’. Is it possible that one of the icons of modern-day consumerism, the second biggest superstore chain in Britain, has managed to get this well-worn and most sentimental of clichés onto the market?
Asda themselves quote a far more economical reason for the card’s release, stating on their online blog that they had identified a niche in the market for those who ‘don’t take Valentine’s Day too seriously, but who still want to make a gesture’. Well they’ve definitely got that bit right, as it seems the number of people, even in relationships, who claim to ‘hate’ Valentine’s Day is more every year; a fact that strikes me as sadder than the consumer tradition surrounding the day itself. It’s nice to know that those cynics among us can now smugly present this card to their loved ones, happy in the irony of its simplicity and satisfying even their most anti-conformist inner selves.
Or perhaps they have gone too far, and the irony is lost on a day when we should be focusing on the meaningful value of our relationships, and not on flicking two fingers up at the multi-million pound card-making industry. As the cheeky message inside the card denotes by saying ‘my love for you is priceless’, this is not a card that takes itself too seriously at all. So that is the overwhelming message to take from it; lighten up, enjoy your relationship and while you’re at it spare a smile for the cutting-edge wit of Asda card suppliers.
The deliberate subversion of lovey dovey reds and pinks to quite frankly unappealing green and brown is the real effect of Asda’s latest shock product. Outraged by the price? Disconcerted by the colours? Bingo! Your reactions are actually irrelevant as far as they are concerned, as the card’s greatest achievement is to simply get you talking. From being posted and shared as a picture on Facebook, even to having this article written about it, what Asda have cleverly succeeded in doing is generating publicity for their brand.
For if there are two things that unfailingly get people talking, it is controversy and a bargain, and by simply encompassing both these things this little card may just be an advertiser’s dream. Not only have they created the world’s cheapest Valentine’s Day card, but they have succeeded in utilising the ever growing multi-billion pound advertising platform that is Facebook, without having to spend a penny. Or even seven…