Teleflora’s Super Bowl Ad: The Next Best Thing to a PSA

As with most Super Bowl commercials, our Teleflora ad tried to cut through the clutter with humor – and from the laughter I heard starting in my own living room and reverberating around the blogosphere and cyberspace (The Mercury News, The Times Picayune, Buzz Sugar, I4U News, The Tennessean, Fanhouse, Yahoo! Video – to name a few of the earliest posters), it seems to have hit its mark.

You can vote for your favorite Super Bowl commercial on these sites:
USA Today
Spotbowl.com
MSNBC.com/Hulu.com
Google/YouTube
Yahoo
Spike.com

But here’s the basic message we are sending: With just two weeks before the biggest red-letter day of the year, we were coaching men across the nation not to make a relationship-ending mistake. Most guys think that just remembering Valentine’s Day scores them points. But worse than forgetting is making a measly attempt at sending a gift and thinking you’ve won Valentine Nights for another year.

Consider our ad a public service announcement, right up there with “Stop, Drop, and Roll” and “Just say no.” We’re not only reminding guys that they have less than 14 days in which to send flowers. We’re steering them away from what could be a disastrous decision.

If you think I’m joking, don’t take my word for it. Romance expert Marilyn Oliveira, senior editor at Inside Weddings magazine, nearly dumped her now-ex boyfriend for just such a transgression. “I received roses in a box one Valentine’s Day, a day that will live in infamy,” says Oliveira, recalling the horror. “The flowers didn’t arrive at my office until after 5PM, and were half-dead and covered with thorns. I had to scrounge in the communal kitchen for some sort of vase, and by the time I had wrestled them into something resembling an arrangement, I was scratched and positively fuming.” Ouch.

Oliveira goes on to offer the following advice:

If someone were to issue the official rules on Valentine’s Day flowers (and somebody really should), they would look a little like this:

* Have them delivered. The FedEx man plopping a cardboard box on her doorstep or her desk does not a romance make. Also, wrestling with be-thorned stems for half an hour will put her in the mood for assaulting you, not love.

* Please send the flowers she likes. I beg of you: If she’s told you a dozen times that she adores tulips, do not send her daisies, dahlias, orchids, or (heaven forbid) carnations. Send her tulips. If her favorite flower is not in season, you can never go wrong with roses.

* Plants are not romantic. Plants are practical. Flowers are colorful, sweet smelling, beautiful, and extravagant. It should be obvious which are most appropriate for Valentine’s Day, but in case you’re unsure, it’s THE FLOWERS.

* Excuses are unacceptable. You can make the argument that V-day is a faux holiday fabricated by the retail industry. Go ahead, I dare you. But if you actually want to keep your girlfriend, suck it up and consider the blooms an investment — one that’s guaranteed to pay off for both of you.