Valentine's Day

Flightless Bird

David Farrier

Society & Culture, Documentary, Comedy

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand America’s obsession with Valentine's Day. Why do Americans fork out $20 billion each year in an attempt to woo a mate or prove their love to an existing one? David discovers he doesn’t have a valentine, so interviews online dating coach Perri Schneider. What are the do’s and don’ts of American dating? Farrier then discovers that sales of vibrators go up on and around Valentine's Day, so talks to engineer Anna Lee of Lioness who invented a smart vibrator. What can we learn from this smart vibrator, and why has the clitoris been mistaken for the nose when it comes to the world of vibrator technology? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm David Ferrier, in New Zealand are accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure
0:05.8	out what makes this country tick.
0:07.9	Now I noticed something strange while buying groceries the other day.
0:11.9	I was trying to find some of my favorite cereal,
0:14.4	fruity loops, but I found myself surrounded by aisles and aisles of packaged chocolates,
0:20.3	all packaged in the shape of a heart.
0:23.0	Driving past some florists on the way home,
0:25.0	there seemed to me more flowers out than usual.
0:28.0	Then the advertising started showing up in my mailbox,
0:31.0	Valentine's Day. America loves Valentine's Day.
0:33.2	America loves Valentine's Day.
0:35.4	And look, I'm not pretending we don't have it back in New Zealand,
0:38.8	but in New Zealand we probably associate the word Valentine's more
0:42.2	with an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant chain.
0:45.0	Valentine's!
0:47.0	More bang for your buck!
0:48.0	If you're having any celebration large or small,
0:52.0	Valentine's won't be beaten for value. But here in America, Valentine's isn't a restaurant, it's a day.
0:57.8	The third biggest spending day, beaten only by Christmas and Mother's Day. Americans fork out about $20 billion each Valentine's
1:05.8	in an attempt to woo a mate or prove their love to an existing one.
1:10.0	A couple of years ago, the average American spent $165 on Valentine's Day.
1:16.0	But where did this day come from and what do you mean to do on it?
	...

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