For some young people, Valentine's Day is an outdated ritual
that has nothing to do with romance or love. Eming Piansay, Donny Lumpkins
and Jazmyne Young are content producers for YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

SAN FRANCISCO - Valentine's Day may have a lot of fans, but to young people,
the holiday is just another reason to exploit bank accounts everywhere.

"I think it's a made-up holiday," says Willy Lores, 22. "It isn't even
really about couples. It's about couples showing other people how much they
love each other."

Thomas Roche, the founding member of a yearly spoken word event on Feb. 14
called "My Sucky Valentine," believes Valentine's Day has become its own
entity that has nothing to do with love.

"The media around V-Day is a solid blitz promoting this cookie-cutter
version of romance and relationships, and it just all seems like bullshit to
me," says Roche. "I think the real stories of real love, misdirected love,
self-destructive love, anti-love, or just shameless loveless lust, are much
more interesting and entertaining."

Feb.14 may be etched in stone as the official love day of the year, but UC
Berkeley student Rose Rimler, 21, sees the pressure put on singles and
non-singles alike.

"It's like - why should I feel bad because of this one day, just because I'm
not in a relationship?" says Rimler. "Or people who are in relationships
feel pressure because they have to do something for their significant
other."

Some young people compare the materialism of Valentine's Day to holidays
like Christmas.

Valentine's Day "has lost some of its original meaning," says Nick Lee, 20,
a student at San Francisco City College. "Its original purpose was to
celebrate love. Now it's become, 'Buy everything for your mate' day."

Whip It Out Comedy, an online comedy video hub on YouTube, offers people a
humorous take on the world of Valentine's Day.

"I think that our videos, which basically endorse the anti-Valentine's Day
side of the argument, have been particularly popular because that's the side
you rarely see out there," says Josh Spector, the producer of the site.
"People love to see somebody putting Valentine's Day in its place, so to
speak, and that's what our videos do."

The same retailers who cash in on Christmas and Valentine's Day are trying
to get in on this growing 'anti-Valentine's Day' phenomenon.

Last year American Greetings launched a line anti-Valentine's Day cards.
This year they are selling 10 humorous and sentimental anti-Valentine's day
cards.

"The cards have been very well received," says Frank Cirillo, representative
for American Greetings. "Consumers we spoke with told us that they were
looking for greater variety in the card aisle, and that they are pleased
with what they have seen so far."

But, for now, "anti-Valentine's Day" has yet to be taken over by
corporations, and alternative Valentine's Day events seem to be on the rise.

Not surprisingly, Valentine's Day has a large batch of events for people who
want to celebrate the un-traditional aspects of the holiday.

One especially eye-catching ad for a New York event asks: "Are you a Saint?
Or are you a Sinner?" with the words Anti-Valentine's Day in large red
capital letters beneath. The two-room event gives partygoers are a choice:
good wholesome, saint-like Valentine's Day partying - or the other room that
is steeped in "sin."

For the more comic-inclined, Valentine's Day at The Comedy Asylum in San
Ramon, Calif. lets partygoers take snapshots with Cupid's evil twin, vent
their anger toward love, relationships and the opposite sex via microphone,
and watch a stand-up comedy show by comedians who probably hate the holiday
more than anyone else.

The anti-Valentine's Day celebration could be easily dismissed as the events
for the single and bitter. But people like Thomas Roche believe events like
these are a breath of fresh air and diversity from what we've come to expect
from Feb. 14.

"The fact that so many of us have lived through horrible relationships,
often multiple times, means that those old-school dreams of love and romance
are increasingly seeming ridiculous and hopeless," says Roche. "Romantic
self-delusion as a lifestyle is disintegrating under the strain of reality.
I say good riddance."

Roche may be ready to dump the old fashion holiday blue print but the guys
at Whip It Out Comedy aren't as eager.

"I'm pretty sure that Valentine's Day is still going to suck next year which
should help us make another funny video to celebrate it.

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