Valentine’s Day is a crowded time in comms, with countless brands vying for attention around a single day. That makes it even more important to think outside the box if you want your brand to stand out.
It can be a great opportunity to create fun, engaging PR and marketing campaigns that resonate with a wide audience, whether people are loved-up, single, celebrating Galentine’s, focusing on self-love and friendship, or have been together since the dinosaurs ruled. Valentine’s campaigns don’t have to stick to the traditional romance narrative – they can appeal to everyone. The key is to spark conversation and deliver messages that resonate, whether through light-hearted, playful campaigns or bold, hard-hitting storytelling.
From turning exes’ love notes into loo roll, to bringing people together to build LEGO flowers, or even sharing simple messages that help someone recognise the signs of an unhealthy relationship, brands can tell the stories they want while highlighting the causes and values that matter to them through thoughtful campaigns.
We’ve pulled together a list of Valentine’s Day campaigns from recent years that we think really hit the mark.
What’s in this article:
- Lego: Botanical Love
- Lidl: Kindness Coupons
- Who Gives a Crap: Flush Your Ex
- No More: Language of Love
- Deliveroo X Ann Summers
- San Antonio Zoo: Cry Me a Cockroach
- Walkers: Heart Shaped Crisps
- Specsavers: Kiss Clash
- Cadbury 5 Star: Destroy Valentine’s Day
- Dominos: Eau De Passion
Lego: Botanical Love
The long-lasting and meaningful gift of LEGO’s Botanical Collection has grown in popularity over the past few years, so to keep the momentum going, LEGO built on this success for their 2025 Valentine’s Day campaign “Botanical Love”. The campaign encouraged people to reconnect in real life by gifting flowers that couples could build together.
As part of the campaign, a LEGO truck toured major cities across Europe, Asia and America, giving people the chance to experience the Botanical Collection, take part in 8-minute building workshops, and create their own custom LEGO stems designed to last forever.
With LEGO’s findings that 40% of people now interact more with people through their devices than in the real world, leaving many feeling disconnected from face to face interaction, Botanical Love is the perfect example of how a simple idea can bring people together on a day that globally celebrates connection and togetherness.
Lidl: Kindness Coupons
What could be better than FREE Lidl bakery goods? For Valentine’s Day 2025, Lidl treated up to 500,000 customers to “coupons of kindness,” offering either a free bakery item or £5 off their shop as part of its Valentine’s Day campaign. It’s a great example of how brands can put a smile on customers’ faces on a day that, while often joyful, can also be bittersweet for many.
The coupons were shared through the Lidl Plus app (a clever sign up incentive wink), randomly between 17th and 28th February, giving lucky shoppers plenty of time to snap up their freebies.
Who Gives a Crap: Flush Your Ex
Once upon a time it was Valentine’s Day bonfires to rid ourselves of all memories of an ex – Who Gives a Crap made a U-turn on the idea with its 2024 Valentine’s Day PR campaign, which invited customers to turn their “ex’s empty promises into something that’s actually useful.” Customers were encouraged to mail in any old love letters and receipts from ex partners and become an eco-warrior by having their heartbreak transformed into recycled loo roll.
Not only is this campaign a slightly safer option than creating household fires, but it also plays on the global need for sustainability – perfectly putting old emotion to good use whilst showing off the brand’s humorous personality. The campaign successfully initiated engagement with a social media buzz and being featured across numerous blogs and publications.
No More: Language of Love
Whilst many Valentine’s campaigns highlight the fun, silly, loving and harmonious side of Valentine’s Day, there are some important campaigns that hit a bit harder and share crucial messages.
The concept is dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence, and in 2025 their Valentine’s Day campaign “Language of Love”, raised awareness of the not so loving side of some relationships, showing how seemingly subtle phrases can be signs of verbal and emotional abuse.
No More shared examples of these phrases printed on Valentine’s Day cards and posters, as well as a short video to help people recognise the warning signs and to send a message of support to those who may not be experiencing a Valentine’s Day full of care.
Deliveroo X Ann Summers
Deliveroo and Ann Summers tapped into Valentine’s Day panic buying in 2024 with a partnership that was attention grabbing yet practical. For a limited time, customers could order a selection of Ann Summers’ best-selling sexual wellness products directly through Deliveroo, giving forgetfulness a last-minute solution that customers could have delivered straight to their door.
This partnership followed Deliveroo’s 2023 launch of its shopping feature, which saw the app and website expand beyond takeaway deliveries, making customers’ lives easier with shopping delivered straight to their door.
What made this work so well was its simplicity and mild shock factor – seeing a sexual wellness brand pop up alongside restaurant orders isn’t what you’d typically expect! The unexpected contrast made the partnership instantly talkable and perfectly timed for the occasion.
San Antonio Zoo: Cry Me a Cockroach
For those feeling a little on the bitter side on Valentine’s Day, San Antonio Zoo offers a cheeky alternative. Instead of flowers and cards, people can name a cockroach, rat, or vegetable after their ex – turning heartbreak into a light-hearted act of “revenge”.
The zoo has run this campaign every Valentine’s Day since 2020, using it as a fun way to raise funds. Participants can download a Valentine’s Day card to share, or even a special video featuring one of the zoo’s popular animals enjoying a snack named after their not-so-special someone.
Walkers: Heart Shaped Crisps
In 2023, Walkers gave customers the chance to win up to £100,000 for finding the best heart-shaped crisp as part of its Valentine’s Day campaign. While spotting oddly shaped crisps and imagining what they could resemble isn’t anything new, stumbling across the perfect heart shape is a much rarer treat.
The campaign cleverly tapped into existing consumer behaviour, turning something people were already doing and sharing on social media into a PR opportunity. Shoppers were encouraged to submit photos of their crisps, sparking conversation online and playful debates over what really counts as a “perfect” heart – making Walkers a talking point and scoring a PR win.
This low-effort idea shows how brands can create excitement without elaborate stunts. Sometimes, all it takes is reframing a familiar experience and letting the public do the rest.
Specsavers: Kiss Clash
Specsavers pointed out the shared inconvenience of wearing glasses while kissing a loved one in their 2023 campaign ‘Kiss Clash’. They hit the nail on the head with this all too familiar annoyance as the campaign pointed glasses wearers towards contact lenses while promoting their free trial. Its success lay in its relatability to something so common that it makes anyone who’s experienced it chuckle.
The campaign included a Guide to Kissing video which light-heartedly pokes fun at the awkwardness of getting close to a loved one while wearing glasses. Kiss Clash works because it frames contact lenses as a simple, practical solution. Specsavers focused on a small, everyday frustration which showed that they understand the realities of their audience’s lives, an approach that makes the brand feel more human and approachable.
Cadbury 5 Star: Destroy Valentine’s Day
Cadbury set uncles on a mission to destroy Valentine’s Day in this anti-Valentine’s campaign by Ogilvy India in 2025. The campaign points out that everything uncles begin to enjoy – from skinny jeans to the word “YOLO” – inevitably loses its value and appeal. Using this insight the brand got uncles to hijack the most romantic day of the year, with the aim of rescuing those who would rather opt out entirely… and potentially just eat a bar of Cadbury 5 Star.
The tongue in cheek campaign did well and has been featured in The Telegraph India, LiveMint and MSN, sparking conversation and standing out by deliberately pushing back against the usual Valentine’s Day tropes.
Dominos: Eau De Passion
Domino’s put its popular Pepperoni Passion pizza in the spotlight for Valentine’s Day 2025 with the launch of its very own perfume. Yep, you read that right. Designed for pizza lovers, the stunt featured a 30ml bottle with spicy top notes, warm pepper and a woody, smoky base.
The scent was released as a limited edition and could be won exclusively through a competition on Domino's website. This unexpected campaign is playful and helped the brand stand out during Valentine’s Day noise which got people talking across publications including The London Economic, Vice and Mashable.
Key takeaways
- Simple ideas often create the strongest campaigns. Campaigns don’t need to be complex or overworked to get people talking. Straightforward concepts, like naming a cockroach after your ex, is sometimes all the gold dust you need to drive conversation.
- Build on behaviours and conversations that already exist. Like we saw with Walkers, they recognised that people naturally enjoy spotting patterns – from shapes in clouds to unusual crisps. By tapping into familiar behaviours like this, brands make it easy for consumers to create buzz without much effort.
- Emotional relevance drives engagement. Valentine’s Day carries a mix of emotions, from joy and happiness to bitterness and misery. Campaigns that lean into emotions feel more relatable and are more likely to resonate and be shared.
Looking to boost your brand’s reputation through great PR campaigns? Get in touch with our PR team today.
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