"Me Do Wu," My Val: The Creation of Valentine's Day in Accra, Ghana

African Studies Review, Dec 2004 by Fair, Jo Ellen

"Blind Date" notwithstanding, Valentine's programming for television is expensive. Stations latched onto Valentine's Day for much the same reason that radio did. They wanted to attract a loyal audience and go after advertising money, which in a small and poor economy is limited. To attract an audience and advertisers, they were forced to compete with one another, the government television stations, and radio. "Unlike radio, TV incurs production costs with its Valentine's programming. With radio you just have the man behind the mike telling people where to go for parties or where to buy holiday goods," Leonitas Kumi said (interview, Feb. 4, 2002). But in television, production costs must be figured in to any calculation of what kind of programming to do for Valentine's Day. To offset program production costs, both private stations carry a number of love message announcements and product placement ads in the two weeks prior to Valentine's. TV3 encourages local businesses "to send out a message of love to your loyal clientele" ("Valentine Special 2002," January 14, 2002). For 500,000 cedis, or about U.S.$70, businesses could sell their products using a slide commercial with voiceover and background music, aired three times weekly.11 For 50,000 cedis per showing, individuals could show their affection by sending in a message and photo of the loved one on which the station would overlay a heart design, text, music, and voiceover. Despite these efforts to offset programming costs, both stations say they make very little or no money from their Valentine's promotions. But the stations will continue to use Valentine's as a marketing gimmick because, as Kumi summarizes, "Val Day publicity keeps the station in the minds of viewers and advertisers" (interview, Feb. 4, 2002).

For the Ghanaian media, Valentine's Day promotions helped to draw audiences during a period of change in the media environment. Yet broadcasters argue that their Valentine's Day promotions would not have worked if the holiday were not already somewhat known and liked in Accra. They dismiss charges that they are promoting a foreign holiday. Robert Clegg, a popular morning host on Radio Gold, suggests that Valentine's Day was already "a craze in town among young people" and that promotions were primarily a way of building audience by involving more people in the holiday and garnering increased ad revenue (interview, Feb. 5, 2002). Komla Dumor is even more direct. "No one thinks of Valentine's as foreign. We [Ghanaians] have always blended and borrowed from others" (interview, Feb. 7, 2002). Broadcasters also say that other holiday promotions just would not have the same impact on their audiences or advertisers. "Valentine's Day is the perfect promotion. Ghanaians like to look to the outside for new ideas. It fits with our gift-giving culture. What else are we going to celebrate? Thanksgiving? Now that would be utterly ridiculous since we've never had Pilgrims or Indians. But Valentine's? We know about love. It fits. It feels Ghanaian," said Ebow Ghartey (interview, Feb. 11, 2002). Whether it fits or not, the Ghanaian media helped to propel Valentine's Day in Accra into a major consumer holiday that the broadcasters believe has trickled down to benefit various Ghanaian businesses.