Comparing Christmas, Ha-nukkah and Kwanzaa e-cards by Hallmark, American Greetings and Yahoo! Greetings, the ones by Hallmark were the most equitable in their treatment of the three holidays in 2003. There are some real problems with the other two companies.
American Greetings had a slew of tasteless Christmas cards. For example, there was one where elves working with Santa’s laundry hold up his underwear and exclaim, “Man! You think that a guy who can deliver toys all over the world in one night could at least learn to wipe himself a bit better!”
There was also a “Risqué” set of cards that showed a woman stripping suggestively and displaying S&M gear; at one point she’s dressed like an angel, saying, “Ever make an angel in the snow?” At the end, the animation says, “Now that I’ve got your attention, Merry Christmas!”
There was also a category of “Rude” cards, such as the one that listed all the annoying parts of the holiday season, with the comment, “It’s Christmas. Hope yours doesn’t suck.” What was perhaps most telling about American Greetings was the total absence of tasteless Hanukkah and Kwanzaa cards. Indeed, neither of these two holidays merited a “Risqué” or “Rude” section—that was reserved for Christmas.
Hanukkah is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, but it commands the utmost respect from Yahoo! Greetings. Of the 33 Hanukkah cards in 2003, 26 displayed a Star of David or menorah. Of the 443 Christmas cards, 9 were religious. In other words, 79% of the Hanukkah cards were religious, compared to 2% of the Christmas cards.
Here’s what we said to the media:
- “None of this is by accident. For a couple of decades now, there has been a systematic attempt to dilute the sacred message of Christmas while elevating the prominence of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa (a recent secular invention). This is the fruit of multiculturalism. It is also the fruit of bigotry. Unfortunately, the two phenomena are congenitally related.”
