What’s in this article:
- On Valentine’s Day, A Night of Lowemance will take place at one of 10 Lowe’s stores in “select metro areas.”
- The surprise of offering the home improvement store as a venue for romance is capturing people’s attention
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I’m not sure that Lowe’s and romance are quite interchangeable, but every brand wants a Valentine’s Day connection.
So, the home improvement giant came up with this: “A Night of Lowemance.”
The contest was open for participants to sign up between February 3rd and 7th.
On February 14th, on Valentine’s Day, the afterhours event will take place at one of 10 Lowe’s stores in “select metro areas.”
They even made up a little (18 seconds long) video to promote it.
There are to be five winners per location who can each bring a date to the store “to splash, sling and roll some paint on a giant canvas.” They seem to think it is very exciting for people to select from the assortment of Sherwin Williams paints available and “create big art!”
I know that shared art activities are fashionable for date nights now, though I’m not sure I’d find it so very impressive as a prize even if the canvas is “big.” I would have hoped for something I’d consider big like a whole new kitchen, bathroom makeover, or at least some major appliances.
I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.
More details on the contest and prize are filled in on the corporate page like which cities are on the map for this contest. They are Chicago, Denver, Fernandina Beach (Jacksonville), Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Palm Beach, Providence (Rhode Island), Savannah (Georgia), and the San Francisco Bay Area, which Lowe’s decided rank as “the most romantic.”
Really, Milwaukee makes the cut but not New York? How many romantic movies are set in Milwaukee? I looked it up for you and only 49 movies of any genre are set in the state of Wisconsin. In contrast, 366 are set in the Big Apple, and way over 50 of them are romances.
Obviously, I take issue with this self-serving designation that probably has more to do with where there are stores with more space than with which cities people consider romantic. Now you may be wondering: What if you’re not in one of the 10 cities that Lowe’s designated as “most romantic?” There’s a consolation prize for you: “a virtual cooking class with your Valentine.”
The corporate page also gives you some insight into “what were they thinking,” with a quote from Marisa Thalberg, Lowe’s executive vice president, chief brand and marketing officer: “In a year where traditional Valentine’s Day options remain limited, we are ready to turn Lowe’s into the ultimate date night for a few lucky couples… that they never knew they needed.”
Well, yeah, because if you want to throw paint around, you could really just buy the supplies and do it at a painting place or at home.
I have to say the photo above doesn’t look really appealing to me. Also, in my book, rollers are for painting walls – not creating art. But it’s all about publicity, and the surprise of offering the home improvement store as a venue for romance is what is capturing people’s attention.