January 14th, Valentine's Day

This January 14th, I strolled down a shopping street in Barcelona and… Hearts. Red. "Give love." "Surprise them." Gift sets. Ribbons. Valentine's Day was on full display as if it were imminent.

I don't know about you, but I'm still digesting Christmas.

Because it's not just Christmas. There was Black Friday. Then the "pre-Christmas" period. Then Christmas. Then Three Kings Day. Then the sales. And, without a transition, the next excuse. Some shop windows already have Carnival costumes. While they're at it, they might as well put up the Christmas lights for 2026, for real. But... have we all gone mad?

We need to get people into the store. We need to create reasons to shop. We need to move stock. We need to turn an ordinary Wednesday into an "event." Retail survives on tight margins, high rents, online competition, and ever-increasing costs. I know.

But this constant pressure is exhausting. It doesn't inspire. It drains you. Consumers aren't machines that you can keep pushing the same button on without consequences. Overpressure leads to saturation. Emotional disconnection. When everything is exceptional, nothing is. When there's a reason to buy every week, the reason stops mattering.

There's something profoundly healthy—and good for business too—about nothing happening for a few days. About the shop window simply being a shop window. About there being no artificial urgency pushing you to feel like you're late for something. Rest also builds desire. Pause also sells.

The brain isn't designed to be constantly bombarded with buying stimuli. At first, it works: novelty, impulse, but then it stops. Let me tell you a personal anecdote. In my early twenties, I worked in the perfume industry and was responsible for a line of deodorants and shaving foams. We had the classic packaging with "33% free." At first, it was a one-off promotion. Then it became permanent. Week after week. Eventually, someone stated the obvious: this isn't a promotion anymore, it's the real price in disguise.

We decided to try something that seemed risky: removing it. We thought sales would drop. Nothing happened. People continued buying exactly the same. The surprise came later: after a year, we offered the "33% free" discount for just one month. Sales spiked far above normal.

That's when I understood something I've never forgotten: when you stimulate constantly, you don't activate, you anesthetize. And when you pause, the stimulation works again.

A normal shop window display, for a few days, doesn't ruin a business. On the contrary.

Desire also needs space. We can't always desire. January 14th isn't Valentine's Day. Calm down. Let us rest a little.