Valentine’s Day is all about love, and at Lemonlight, we love great video content. Every year, savvy brands across the globe set themselves apart from their competition with heartwarming Valentine’s Day video campaigns. In the spirit of the holiday, we’re going to take a look at some of the best Valentine’s Day videos over the years and why they were so effective.
eHarmony
The Internet is obsessed with kids describing love, and for good reason. Hearing kids talk about their observations on romance is somehow heartwarming, insightful, hilarious, and often completely off-base all at once. Their advice for Valentine’s Day celebration includes tips like, “Spend a lot of money,” or, “Go out to dinner…or lunch…or breakfast.”
The video is a sweet reminder of what love is in its purest form, and the ways children absorb and internalize those relationships. If you want to see adorable descriptions of what a crush is or kids referring to each other as “cheeky little devil,” this video is for you. Hats off to eHarmony Australia for using this video to encourage love as a concept and subtly hint at the way their platform brings people together.
Dairy Queen
This Dairy Queen video is a great example of a parody on the Valentine’s Day romance concept. In it, the woman receives a gift that’s so touching it makes her cry. What is that gift, you might ask? None other than a Dairy Queen spoon that she later uses to eat a special red velvet ice cream cake. If you want a video that uses humor to celebrate the concept of love, check this one out.
Deadpool
When Deadpool came out just before Valentine’s Day in 2016, promotional efforts for the movie were similar to the concept Dairy Queen used in the video above. For Deadpool, the plot was to create a super-romantic environment and then promote Deadpool as the catalyst that will set the mood for that special Valentine’s Day date.
Tesco
This video is one of the most creative examples of a Valentine’s Day ad we could find. Tesco, the British supermarket chain, conducted a Valentine’s Day experiment where they brought in a matchmaker to set people up based solely on the items they put in their shopping baskets. Their go-to products were assessed for compatibility with someone else’s, and then those people met and even went on a date. Two of the couples put together as a result of the experience said they’d go on a second date, so this fun, creative campaign even had a real-life impact for some of the participants!
Vodafone Red
This film for Vodafone Red has become somewhat of a staple in the world of “romantic ads.” It shows a couple united in a kiss, and how that kiss transforms over time as they age together. Comments on the ad consistently reference the emotion that the concept captures, with many people responding that the video left them in tears or invoked more emotion than any other commercial. When it comes to capturing a beautiful touch of humanity and the way love transcends time, Vodafone really gets it right.
Mrs. Fields
Mrs. Fields takes us back in the humor direction with this video promoting their famous cookies. In it, a woman is being called upstairs after her big Valentine’s Day date, but takes a solo break instead to savor a chocolate chip cookie. She ignores the calls of her date, instead commenting that she’s been “waiting all day” for this cookie. This video captures today’s “treat yourself” culture and the idea that the importance of Valentine’s Day might have nothing to do with have a perfect date—you can enjoy it all by yourself.
Okay, so this one isn’t technically a Valentine’s Day ad. It was actually released during the Super Bowl in 2010, but it tells such a beautiful love story that we had to include it anyway. The video has over 8 million views on YouTube, and it shows Google’s prevalence in the search space by telling a couple’s story from start-to-finish using only search queries. Since 2010, the video has made its way onto dozens of “best commercials of the decade” or “best ads of all time” lists, and it shows up on most breakdowns of the best Super Bowl ads that have ever aired. Google really had a win with this one.
