In this episode of The Art of Commerce, hosts Anish Raul and Ajinkya “Jinx” Joglekar step away from romance and into the machinery behind it.This is not a Valentine’s Day celebration.It is not a gift guide.And it is not about love stories.It is about how one of the most emotionally charged days of the year became one of the most engineered.This episode traces how Valentine’s Day evolved from ancient ritual to modern commercial system, and what that evolution reveals about how marketing learns to package feeling, anxiety, and desire.They examine how intimacy became scalable.How privacy became a product.And how romance quietly shifted from expression to transaction.This is about what happens when emotion becomes infrastructure.They unpack:How early rituals framed love as risk, pain, and beliefHow Hallmark didn’t invent romance, but standardized itWhy the envelope mattered more than the cardHow secrecy, signaling, and social pressure fueled adoptionWhere obligation replaced intentionAnd how “meaning” became something you could outsourceFrom fertility rituals and fear-based belief systems…To greeting cards, plush toys, and algorithmic reminders…To why Valentine’s Day persists even when people claim to hate it…This conversation is not about judging the holiday.It is about understanding why it works.Because the most powerful marketing doesn’t feel like persuasion.It feels like tradition.And the most durable products don’t sell things.They sell relief from emotional uncertainty.This episode is for marketers who want to understand how culture gets monetized without announcing itself.Signals, not sentiment.Systems, not symbols.Commerce disguised as custom.🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube🔗 Connect on LinkedInAnish Raul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishraulAjinkya “Jinx” Joglekar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajinkyaj#TheArtOfCommerce #ValentinesDay#MarketingPsychology #BrandStrategy#CulturalCommerce #EmotionalDesign#ModernMarketing