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by Anonymous User on Wednesday May 09, @11:42AM EST (#1)
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I just perused the Web sites of both Hallmark and American Greetings. I can say without a doubt that, online at least, American Greetings is just as full of bigotry and hate for men.
An example of the foul: "Honey, men are a lot like slinkies. It sure is fun watching them tumble down the stairs."
Perhaps we should simply boycott the industry.
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Ooooh, don't get me started about Hallmark!
Two of their recent commercials (still playing, by the way):
1. A little boy--geeky looking with glasses--is coaxed by his playmates: "You can do it," they tell him. So, he walks up to a pretty little girl (taller than he is, by the way) and recites a poem from a Hallmark card. She kisses him on the cheek, in a way more reminiscent of a mother than a nervous little girl. Anyway, the commercial thusfar would have been sweet and touching, but Hallmark can't resist a kick at men... so the spot ends with the boy using the line on another little girl. Message? Men are two-timing scum.
2. A woman brings a touching Hallmark card to another woman working in a restaurant. They're having a beautiful moment when the (male) boss comes by and tells the recipient of the card to "get back to work". The woman shoots back, "Hey, we're having a 'moment' here!" Message? Men are heartless jerks, but women stand up for themselves.
It's one thing to market a line of cards for snippy misandrists. It's quite another thing to migrate that point of view to the only two television commercials that you're currently running.
I hate Hallmark!
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It occurs to me that boycotts are generally not successful because the targeted comapnies provide a product or service that some segment needs. It will be difficult for me to tell my kids that they cannot buy a Mother's Day card this year because daddy is boycotting the only two card shops in the area. Well, tough noogies on me, I guess, but how about a different approach: Identify a card company that either treats men better or at least treats men and women equally shabbily, and identify them as a preferred supplier. Starting a boycott gives me a problem, but identifying a better supplier gives me a solution. Any ideas?
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by Anonymous User on Thursday May 10, @06:26AM EST (#4)
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Why don't you and your kids make your own cards? I'm sure they'll be treasured much more than a mass-produced-lowest-common-denominator-tripey one ... It's fun too!
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I've always followed the "making your own card is more meaningful" philosophy as well. Although I do sympathize with frankh in the desire to find a card shop that treats men and women equally (whether well or shabby). I have noticed a "For Men Only" section in American Greetings' displays, but they're usually just as anti-male as the "For Women Only" cards. Sometimes, they're not even stocked with cards.
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by Anonymous User on Thursday May 10, @11:32PM EST (#6)
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Perhaps some enterprising men or men's group should get into the greeting card business.
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