Love, laughter and pickles: What Valentine's Day cards tell us about romance
Valentine's Day means flowers, chocolate and picking out the perfect card to express your love. And what screams love more than nachos, Minecraft and pickles?
CNN analyzed nearly 600 Hallmark cards available to purchase this year and found that while a majority are centered around romantic partners, some of the shared joys in these relationships, such as pets and snack foods, have made a dent in the Valentine's greeting card market.
Although Valentine's Day is traditionally seen as a day for romance, CNN's analysis found that the love is extended to family members.
Four cards celebrate Valentine's Day for sons-in-law and daughters, and three do the same for sons and daughters-in-law. Mothers have more cards dedicated to them than fathers (four and three, respectively), and grandsons have more cards (14) than granddaughters (13). There are even cards for babies' first Valentine's Day.
Here's who gives and receives the most cards in a fictional family:
It's no surprise that most cards lean romantic, but some feature unexpectedly un-romantic words and phrases that stand out.
Several cards had food-related puns on them, such as 'nacho average valentine' or 'I only have fries for you.' Some referenced animals – 'You're a real-life unicorn' and 'A quick valentine's day riddle: What's the only thing cuter than a hedgehog in a top hat?'
Others stuck with the timeless approach of explicitly spelling out affection – 'I love you,' 'Love is in the air' or, 'True love is more than finding someone's hand to hold.' Classic children's book characters Piglet and Pooh feature on one: 'How do you spell LOVE?' asked Piglet. 'You don't spell it,' said Pooh, 'you feel it.'
More than half of the cards feature hearts on the front. Some more unusual images include pop culture references to franchises such as Minecraft, Super Mario and Disney.
Chocolates, cake and pizza feature almost as much as butterflies. There are more mice featured on the cards than there are depictions of same-sex couples, and four times as many unicorns as elderly couples.
Methodology
CNN analyzed 595 cards available to purchase on Feb. 4, 2025 from Hallmark, focusing on everything that was on the front of each card, such as the text and the imagery being used. We tagged cards, noting the text on the front, the target audience and what featured on the card cover designs. Some cards, for example, said 'for him' or 'for her', leaving it open as to who it was from, whereas others said, 'for my husband from your wife'. Illustrations by Leah Abucayan.
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