💩💔 The stinkiest Valentine’s Day gift

It’s Thursday, Boston.

✈️ This might be the best airline sale … ever. JetBlue is offering five days of incredible 25th b-day deals from super cheap flights to hundreds of dollars off flight and hotel packages. Emily literally bought two one-way flights to a wedding in Philly for less than $150 … total.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• How much is your college degree worth?

• Last-minute V-Day plans

• Monopoly: Boston Edition

Up first…

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Valentine’s Day’s rebrand

Tired: Flowers for Valentine’s Day. Wired: Having a ferret poop on your ex for Valentine’s Day. 

V-Day has gotten a rebrand in recent years, with consumers and brands focusing less on romantic love and more on friendship, family, and even hate. 

💔 Young people are embracing alternative V-Day celebrations. Though Valentine’s Day spending is at an all-time high ($27.5 billion), the percentage of people celebrating has fallen from 63% in 2007 to 56% now. Of the 18- to 34-year-olds who aren’t celebrating, over half are finding a different way to mark the occasion: Treating themselves, going out with friends (OpenTable saw a 34% increase in parties of six or more on Galentine’s), even shopping for their pets.

👭 It might have something to do with the way we view dating. Taylor Higgins, a LunchDates dating coach, attributes the V-Day vibe shift to a more negative view of dating. For one thing, there’s burnout from dating apps. For another, TikTok and social media have made us more open to sharing negative dating experiences or roast our exes online. “It leaves a lot of room for judgment, a lot of room for error,” Higgins said.

💬 Brands are shifting their messaging to match the mood. There’s some “resistance to what used to be ‘romantic love-only’ [messaging],” according to Kim Donlan, a marketing professor at BU. Now, our culture and brands “use this holiday to celebrate all kinds of love,” focusing on “purity and simplicity.” These days, you’re more likely to see a T-shirt that simply says “love” that can be given to anyone, versus an ad featuring a straight couple holding candy and flowers. The vibe is “we don't care who you love, just buy our product,” she said.

💩 An unlikely manifestation of this change: Animal poop. Animal shelters have found huge success offering stinky, silly ways to stick it to your ex (or anyone/thing else you hate). For $5, the Rhode Island SPCA will put your ex’s name in a chew toy to be ripped up by one of their pups; for $25, Standish Humane Society will name a feral cat after your ex and spay/neuter them; and for $5, A Home for Weary Wanderers will have a ferret poop on your ex’s name.

🤝 Why pair love and poop? “It just feels good to be able to do something with the unresolved feelings that you have,” Donlan said. It taps into our desire for alternative celebration, and almost feels like a gift to yourself. Plus, seeing a dog rip up your ex’s name is hilarious. Stephanie Van Patten of the RISPCA said when one donor who gave $100 saw the video, she loved it so much she “immediately made another $100 donation.”

👀 Wanna see the ferrets in question? We stopped by A Home for Weary Wanderers to see what their campaign was all about. And let’s just say … it smelled exactly how you think it did. Watch the video here.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🎓 Is $360,000 of student loans worth a college degree? According to this fancy return on investment tool, yes … most of the time. With some tuition prices approaching six figures, many young people are wondering whether the hefty investment often required for a four-year degree is worth the cash. The Globe’s analysis of New England schools found that 15% of programs didn’t pay off — mostly in humanities or social science majors like philosophy (Gia’s major, lol) or psychology. That said, at ritzier schools, it’s a net positive with almost any major.

🏘️ The state’s shelter system is one step closer to an overhaul. On Wednesday night, the Mass. Senate followed the House’s lead and pushed through a similar bill to fund and overhaul the emergency shelter system — which ran out of cash over a week ago. The plan would infuse the system with $425 million, and massively scale back Mass.’ right-to-shelter law, capping the number of families in the system at 4,000 and stays at six months, plus beefing up eligibility requirements. Lawmakers just need to hash out the (minor) differences and get it in front of Gov. Maura Healey.

🎻 New England girlies are going to LOVE this one: The Lumineers are coming to Fenway on July 18. They’re stopping for their “Automatic” tour, named for their new album dropping tomorrow. And, bonus, the openers are fire: St. Vincent and Hippo Campus will play at the Boston show. The announcement marks another sweet addition to Fenway’s growing lineup of summer shows, including Shakira, Hozier, and My Chemical Romance. Tickets go on sale on Feb. 21 at 10 a.m. (we’ll remind you, don’t sweat it). You can grab them here.

🌹 Scrambling for last-minute V-Day plans? We got you. Need something to do? We have two, two-for-one ticket deals for Feb. 14: Hasty Pudding Theatrical’s show of 101 Damnations with code VDAY176, and entry to Boston’s Museum of Illusions. Need a gift? Central Square Business Improvement District ambassadors are handing out free roses and cards on Mass. Ave. on Valentine’s Day from 8 to 9 a.m. and 12 to 1 p.m. More into Galentine’s? How about a friendship bracelet-making at Time Out tonight with Little Words Project, or a free screening of Casablanca in Rozzie? BOOM!

QUICK QUESTION!

🧑‍🎓 Is a college degree worth the money?

GIVEAWAY

Together with Candlelight Concerts

Enter to win two tickets to any Candlelight® concert in Boston valid until March 31, 2025. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Feb. 13. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

Monopoly: Boston Edition

Pass GO, collect $200, and … buy Fenway Park? Monopoly is in the process of creating a Boston edition of the game, and they want our help to do it. 

ICYMI, game company Top Trumps USA has been in the business of creating community- and city-specific versions of Monopoly for a while, including Cape Cod and Newport, R.I.. Now, they’re expanding to create a Boston version, set to come out this November.

They’re in the planning stages of the game, and they’re asking for community input about what landmarks and locations to include on the board by emailing [email protected].

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🎲 Thanks for reading! Fingers crossed for City Hall. I just … need to own it.

🙅‍♀️ The results are in: 68% of B-Siders think the 4B movement is awesome. Special shoutout to all of the lesbians who wrote in to tell us they’ve been doing 4B forever, including this one: “Lesbians stay winning.”

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].