Valentine’s Day run down: some of the campaigns on today

It may be international day of commercialism (I’m not bitter) but some of the campaigns by agencies running today aren’t all schmaltz.

Westfield and Draft FCB have gone all gooey with twelve Valentine’s Day messages displayed on billboards around New Zealand, including three marriage proposals one of which involves a request to re-marry after eloping for a courthouse wedding ten years ago.

The billboards appear in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch as part of Westfield’s Truly, Madly, Hugely campaign, and involve puns, Full Metal Jacket references, Facebook status terms and the message “I wanted to buy you a Valentine’s card but this billboard was all I could afford.” 

The messages will stay up until February 29.

Not so funny
In the more serious stakes, Saatchi & Saatchi NZ and Women’s Refuge have launched a form of ambush marketing featuring Valentine’s Day cards that look nice on the outside but contain darker messages inside, including “I’m So Glad I Found You” on the outside, with “Don’t ever try and hide from me again, b****” on the inside.

The cards have been placed in retailers around Auckland and Wellington with readers urged to make a text donation to Women’s Refuge.

Saatchi & Saatchi aimed to encourage conversations and help those suffering make a change, Wellington general manage Livia Esterhazy said.

The campaign aimed to bring domestic abuse into the open and encourage New Zealanders to take a second glance if they suspected something was not right in a relationship.

Women’s Refuge chief executive Heather Henare said the organisation supported good love.

“We love Valentines like the rest of the world, but think this is an issue that needs to be unwrapped.”

One for the 'insert adjective here'
It's been labelled as the campaign that provides the answer for blokes this Valentine’s Day, but really it could work for anyone who is lazy broke forgetful regularly reads the Herald in need of it – Saatchi & Saatchi strike back, this time with Tui, to create the foldable bunch of roses. 

Available in every New Zealand Herald today, those in need can tear out the page, roll it up and present their loved one with a “bunch” of roses.