- Relation-sipping emphasises small, personal gestures over grand romantic displays on Valentine's Day
- 77% of Gen Z prefer sweet, small gestures instead of extravagant or performative romantic acts
- 31% of Gen Z plan to skip traditional Valentine's rituals like posting on social media or gifting flowers
Valentine's Week 2026 has begun, and a new love language is already taking shape. What is driving it? Indian, American, and Korean content, among others. In Can This Love Be Translated, Joo Ho-jin, played by Kim Seon-ho, collected a four-leaf clover for Cha Moo-hee, played by Go Youn-jung.
While celebrating Valentine's Day, Jay Pritchett, played by Ed O'Neill, once made a bunny with clay for Gloria, played by Sofia Vergara, in Modern Family. Although the two of them later exchanged expensive gifts. But you get the gist. Relation-sipping is making a shift from extravagant gestures towards personal moments.
What Is Relation-Sipping
Philosophically, love is not about money, grand gestures, or a fantasy world. It lies in the tiniest things. Relation-sipping is all about bringing back the focus to that. While the influencers and actors on Instagram are raving about diamonds, jewels, and expensive gifts for Valentine's Day, performative gestures are fading away in the real world, according to research conducted by Pepsi and an IRL dating brand.
Pepsi UK and Thursday (associated with the IRL dating brand) collaborated to launch a new Valentine's Day campaign. To celebrate their sweet but Zero Sugar flavours, new research was released in which Gen Z admitted to ditching grand gestures in a relationship.
To be honest, it seems like more and more people are getting inspired by Shah Rukh Khan. Why is the author suddenly talking about SRK? You can't talk about love without mentioning SRK. Did you know that he once confessed to giving Gauri Khan plastic earrings for their first Valentine's Day? Relation-sipping is all about the small effort for which SRK has set a bar too high.
Grand Gestures Are Out This Valentine's Day
The research concluded that 77% of Gen Z now prefer sweet and small gestures. It is a notable shift from forced romance and grand Ted-like (from How I Met Your Mother) gestures that were once the definition of love.
31% of the participants said that they would be turning down Valentine's Day rituals, such as posting on social media, gifting flowers to their partners, buying a (or more) teddy bears, taking the load of planning an extravagant date, or asking them to be their boyfriend/ girlfriend.
At least 37% reported finding these gestures intense, 32% called them fake, 26% labelled them inauthentic, and 20% found them impersonal. They want to move over this idea and make gestures and gifts personal, not literally, but much like how Monica and Chandler (from FRIENDS) planned to make presents on one Valentine's Day.
The research also listed the top 10 relation-sip gestures
- Complimenting your outfit (50%)
- Sending a good morning text (50%)
- Watching their favourite film together (48%)
- Checking in to see how their day/week is going (46%)
- Remembering and getting your sweet treat (44%)
- Taking you to your go-to food spot (38%)
- Listening to your favourite artist together (38%)
- Sharing music with you that reminds them of you (38%)
- Creating nicknames for each other (36%)
- Remembering your exact coffee (or drink) order (31%)
The big question is - why this shift? 83% of Gen Z reportedly felt seen, and 85% felt valued with small relation-sips. Not just that 46% of them said that they would not continue dating a person if the smaller gestures are missing, and 65% reported that they would be horrified if their partner staged something performative, much like how Cameron showed up uninvited at Mitchel's office party in Modern Family.
Steven Hind, chief marketing officer at Pepsi UK&I said, "At Pepsi, we believe the best moments in life are found in little treats, which we bring to life through our Pepsi Zero Sugar Strawberries 'n' Cream and Cream Soda flavours."
Abi Blears, dating expert at Thursday, said, "The era of the 'Insta-worthy' date is over. Gen Z can smell a staged moment a mile away, and they're actively opting out. Instead, we're seeing a massive shift towards 'Relation-sipping'-those tiny, unpolished windows of real connection that don't require a suit or a three-month waiting list."
It is high time we move away from aesthetics and relieve our partners from the burden of making every moment Instagram-worthy. After all, love is about expressing, not showing off.
Also Read | What Is 6-7 Dating? The Gen Z Trend Prioritising Safety, Peace, And Stability
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