By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
KANSAS CITY, MO, August 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The largest greeting card company in the US has rolled out a line of same-sex wedding cards, hoping to cash in on an “under-serviced market” after California joined Massachusetts in legalizing homosexual “marriage”.
Sarah Kolell, spokeswoman for Hallmark Cards, said the company wanted to be relevant to a market it was not addressing.
“It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can. We have more than 200 cards to address traditional weddings, second weddings and interracial weddings,” Kolell said in an AP report. “We heard that our customers wanted the cards, so we provided them.”
The four new cards feature vague and unimaginative images such as two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers and mundane phrases like “one promise, two hearts,” but not the words wedding or marriage, making them suitable to be sold for civil unions or domestic partnerships, should the California “gay marriage” law be overturned in November.
Hallmark started selling “coming out” cards last year, as well as such niche market offerings as drug rehab greeting cards and cards for couples struggling to conceive.
A press release from Concerned Women for America (CWA), enlarging on the company’s mission statement which reads “For nearly 100 years, Hallmark has believed in the very best of human nature,” said, “Hallmark prides itself on “quality, innovation and caring.” A family-owned business since 1910, Hallmark has grown into the most recognized greeting card chain in the nation. For over 50 years, families have gathered to watch the award winning Hallmark Channel for quality movies based on American values and pro-family principles.”
Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, said, “Hallmark is jeopardizing its brand as a family-friendly company. Customers used to be able to trust Hallmark to produce quality products that were safe for all ages. Now parents will need to steer their kids from Hallmark’s section of the greeting card aisle and away from its previously heartwarming movies for fear that they too will push homosexual messages.”
Janice Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of CWA’s Beverly LaHaye Institute, said, “By latching onto the latest fad generated by the homosexual special interest groups, Hallmark is negating its image as a wholesome company that promotes American values and pro-family principles in its products. American businesses have a corporate responsibility to the public that buys their products. Instead of bolstering campaigns by special interest groups like the homosexual activists, corporations like Hallmark should be protecting American culture from those forces that would destroy the family and create a public environment that is detrimental to general well-being, especially children’s well-being.”
Cleveland-based American Greetings Corp., Hallmark’s foremost competitor, says it does not have cards in its wedding line specific to same-sex marriages and has no plans to add such products, according to the AP report.
To contact Hallmark Cards:
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
P.O. Box 419034
Mail Drop 216
Kansas City, MO 64141-6580
Phone: 800-425-5627
Corporate Website: https://corporate.hallmark.com/