What's love got to do with it?

Finally: Cards for the crushed

Valentine's Day can be tough on those who lack a lover, have a broken heart or are fed up with trying to duck Cupid's love arrows.

But for anyone who still wants to send a greeting with a twist, there's a new trend to "anti-valentine "cards.

Etobicoke's Carlton Cards , for example, has 20 "anti" cards among its crop of 600 valentines this year. The messages are usually more a backlash against the whole romantic universe of Valentine's Day than they are barbs aimed at former or current beloveds.

Instead of a child-like cherub with wings, one anti-valentine shows a winged bulldog with a red heart necklace, a red arrow under one paw and an old verse with a new attitude:

"Roses are red and green is the clover.

I'll be so glad when this day is over.

Crappy Valentine's Day."

Another features an Anti-Valentine's Day Quiz, asking which one does not belong: Cupid, a telemarketer, a cowboy, or a proctologist?

The answer inside is the cowboy, because "he's the only one who isn't a pain in the butt."

One with a photo of a guy biting a rose is labelled "Bad Date # 327: Larry," reminding the recipient "there are worse things than being single."

A gentler card has "LOVE" printed across the front, surrounded by four "blah, blahs," and an inside message: "Hey, you've read one Valentine, you've read 'em all. However you spend it, hope this Valentine's Day is happy for you."

So what brought this on?

From ribbons, lace and romantic verses in the early 1800s, valentine's cards with humorous or cheeky greetings plus mildly insulting art appeared just over a century ago. They resurfaced again after both world wars.

The annual tradition "is all about love," said Jim Driscoll, Carlton Cards' director of marketing.

But he said Statistics Canada recently reported about 50% of adults are single.

Test groups used by Carlton's parent, American Greetings, suggested teasing, not-so-serious cards to reflect other ways to celebrate Feb. 14, Driscoll said. "You can sit at home and feel miserable or you can get together with friends or relatives and with these, you can send a card thatps not lovey-mushy."

Head office artists in Cleveland, Ohio came up with some off-the-wall cards for the not-so-serious line.

"It's always a risk with humour," Driscoll agreed. A local firm recently learned some humour bites hard.

Scholastic Canada Ltd. of Markham yanked one of the Happy Bunny book series after a mom objected to valentine's phrases stickers, which Detroit author Jim Benton said reflect sarcastic greetings by today's older kids.

Married to Tina for almost 20 years, Driscoll said: "If I get her a gushy card, she'll wonder what I was up to." Though not an anti-valentine's one, "it will be a fun one."

He'll also buy one for his 8-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son to give to their mom. "We don't really celebrate Valentine's," Driscoll added.

"We try to love each other every day."