AVD card

承前*1

昨日街に出たら街には花売りが溢れかえっていた。
さて、


 王豊豊「美国単身一族過“反情人節”」『新民晩報』2007年2月13日


ネタ元は以下のAPの記事か;


February 12, 2007
Card industry responds to anti-Valentine’s mood


By The Associated Press


CLEVELAND — For Lori Schwartz, a happy mom with a decade of wedded bliss under her belt, the greeting card featuring a bloodied, ripped-out heart was perfect.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, so here’s a card with a heart inside,” it read. “I’d tell you whose it is, but the less you know, the better.”

“My husband and I never get nice cards for each other. We’re not into sentiments,” Schwartz said while perusing an aisle of “anti-Valentine’s Day” cards at an American Greetings Corp. store. “I expect to get something just as bad, but I may have one-upped him this year.”

Sensing a growing trend — and more potential customers — American Greetings has started a new line of expressions for lovers who’d rather be big goofs than big flirts. There are cards for singles not struck by Cupid’s arrow and those with general disdain for Feb. 14, too.

From nightclub parties to bar-hopping bus tours for singles — and plenty of purposely loveless merchandise to go along with them — the anti-Valentine’s Day crowd is proving to be an opportunity for some businesses.

“For everyone, Valentine’s Day isn’t just about hearts and roses,” said Alana Campana, Valentine’s Day program manager at Cleveland-based American Greetings. “It’s really an unmet market.”

It’s also potentially huge.

Valentine’s Day is the second-biggest holiday behind Christmas for card makers, with 190 million valentines — 85 percent bought by women — being sent each year, excluding classroom exchanges, Campana said.

So marketers saw an opening when the U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier this year that 51 percent, or 61 million, of the nation’s women are single, outnumbering married females for the first time.

Ellen Garbarino, a marketing professor at Case Western Reserve University, said it makes sense for businesses to tap into singles because the segment of anti-Valentine’s supporters who are against the premise of an invented holiday are a harder sell.

For singles “a lot of it is, ‘I’m going to refuse to sit here and wallow,’” Garbarino said. “This makes it a more marketing-friendly [anti-Valentine’s] holiday version.”

Popular this season are anti-Valentine’s Day events, including a “Love Bites the Hand that Feeds It” cabaret show by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco.

The Internet abounds with links to anti-Valentine’s Day message boards, blogs and products such as “Love Kills Slowly” shot glasses.

Twinsburg High School in northeast Ohio billed its Edgar Allan Poe Festival as an anti-Valentine’s Day event, featuring a reading of the murderous “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Cleveland Barhopper sold out two of its purple buses for its second annual AVD event.

“We just found that dating services and a lot of singles were attracted to our bus tours and so we just decided to bill this one the anti-Valentine’s Day bus tour,” said owner Charles Peirce. “It’s just a good, mobile party.”

The Corner Alley, an upscale bowling alley and nightclub in downtown Cleveland, is throwing a “Love ... Spare Me!” party promising nonromantic music and “love stinks” drink specials.

“Everybody seems to do something for couples and I think people forget that there are a lot of single people out there,” said Adam Kleinhenz, general manager of the Corner Alley, where among the AVD activities will be a version of “The Dating Game.”

Matt Brick, of Sacramento, Calif., who runs antivday.com and SinglesAwareness.com, said he’s not surprised American Greetings and others are trying to cash in on the trend.

The self-described happily married man said his sites’ “I Think, Therefore I am Single” T-shirts and stickers launched last year are big sellers. The sites encourage people to celebrate Feb. 14 by volunteering or spending it with friends.

“It is not just single people who dislike the holiday. Many people who are married or in a relationship don’t like the holiday either,” Brick said. “The holiday creates a lot of pressure, both emotionally and financially.”
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Business/2007021114?pt=0

上の記事で”Edgar Allan Poe Festival”が出てくるが、映画や音楽におけるポーの引用を纏めた頁であるhttp://www.poedecoder.com/Qrisse/footprints.phpには、

Good Charlotte - Good Charlotte has a song called "My Bloody Valentine" in which they say, "The Headlines read: A lover died. No tell-tale heart was left to find".
とある。
以下はフィリピンの記事;

Filipinos celebrate Valentine's Day discreetly

By Karen Lema
Mon Feb 12, 10:17 PM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - The days before and after February 14 are red-hot for the Philippines' motel industry.


In this largely Roman Catholic country,
Valentine's Day is spent with wives and husbands. But its eve and aftermath are reserved for lovers.

"The busiest days for us are February 13 and 15," said Steve Perez, assistant business manager of Manila's Victoria Court, a drive-in hotel that specializes in discreet reservations.

The budget hotel, which has a lady with a finger over her lips as its logo, has 106 rooms and they are all occupied during what Filipinos jokingly refer to as days for "No.2 or No.3" Love, marriage and children are heavily emphasized in this Southeast Asian country, where syrupy ballads top the charts and Valentine's Day is celebrated in a red and pink riot of roses, hearts and cupids.

But despite widespread devotion to the Catholic faith, extramarital affairs are often accepted in the Philippines, where divorce is illegal and a macho culture encourages men to father several families.

Sociologists say hundreds of thousands of people remain locked in loveless unions and seek relationships elsewhere.

"If I had an option I would leave my wife," said a 29-year-old man, who asked not to be named. He said he had been having an affair for seven months.

The Philippines and Malta are the only countries in the world without a divorce law. Many Filipinos are opposed to such legislation, fearing it could disrupt family life and their religious beliefs.

Couples can file for annulments but they must convince the courts that their marriage was void to begin with. They can also aim for a legal separation but that would prevent them from re-marrying.

Faced with such hurdles, most unhappy married couples stick it out. Some look for love elsewhere.

MISTRESS ETIQUETTE

While men have been the traditional protagonists of affairs, Filipino women, particularly in the more permissive urban milieux, are increasingly taking the lead.

"Before, women coming in to our hotel would hide their faces but now they have become more open," Perez said. "Sometimes the women are even the one on the driver's seat."

An etiquette book for mistresses, written by Julie Yap Daza, a television talk-show host and columnist, is a bestseller at local bookstores.

Daza tells mistresses they are "holiday orphans," who must be "ready to give up Valentine's Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Holy Week and even her man's birthday." For as Rule No.1 in her book says, "Mistress is not Mrs. Know your place."

Celebrities or politicians changing partners with the regularity of square dancers have been a staple of Philippine gossip columns and a wandering eye is not a liability on the election stump.

Deposed president
Joseph Estrada was swept to power in 1998 despite fathering children with several women.

A number of divorce bills have been filed in Congress but none have succeeded due to opposition from priests and Christian groups.

"Reality tells us that there are many failed, unhappy marriages across all Filipino classes," said Lisa Maza, author of a divorce bill.

"Many couples especially from the marginalized sectors, who have no access to courts, simply end up separating without the benefit of legal processes."

Maza's bill proposes to allow, among others, the much-abused excuse - "irreconcilable differences" - as grounds to end a marriage.

The 5,000 plus annulment cases pending in courts show that there are many couples who are desperate to get out of failed unions, Maza said.

But sociology Professor Josephine Aguilar said divorce was not the solution.

"Everything could be resolved through proper communication," said Aguilar, who got married last year.

"Couples should not just accept the pluses of their partners but also their minuses because when you accept that, you will understand the idea of a perfect marriage."

A 46-year-old father of two, interviewed by Reuters, agreed. The man, who asked not to be identified, said he will not miss the subterfuge around Valentine's Day so he can slip off for an assignation with his mistress.

His affairs devastated his family and eventually "guilt" seeped in.

"I chose to stay with my family because it was the right thing to do, not just morally, but for everyone to be happy," he said. "I have learned not to expect anything from my wife and just accept her as a gift from God."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070213/lf_nm/valentine_philippines_marriage_dc_1