Hallmark Hawks Unemployment Condolences Greetings Cards

Images via Hallmark

On both sides of the pond, and well beyond, unemployment is a major problem which is damaging the economy and eating away at the tissue of society. But to greetings card manufacturer Hallmark it is an unmissable opportunity to make a few quid. Seizing the moment, Hallmark has launched a line of unemployment sympathy cards.

Derek McCracken, creative director with the Hallmark Greeting Card Company, told National Public Radio, “Loss of job, like any loss, is a grieving process. And so we have to acknowledge as soon as possible what had happened and then try to support them. So that’s where we kind of offer more cards on the, you’ll get through this, versus dwelling on the loss of the job itself.”

It’s not right but it’s okay. Seth Abramovitch at Gawker suggested the cards aren’t such a bad idea: “Hey, it ain’t a paycheck, but it’s also a hell of lot more than the, ‘Really? That suuuuucks…’ that we typically offer pink-slipped loved ones.” Abramovitch proposed an alternate idea: “A co-worker once sent me a techno remix of Whitney Houston’s ‘It’s Not Right but It’s Okay’ on iTunes after I’d been unceremoniously sacked from a job, and I promptly held a one-person dance party to it in my cubicle. It was cathartic, and I’ll never forget them for it.”

Hallmark have previous. Meghan Keneally of The Daily Mail noted that with the national UK unemployment rate steady at nine percent it makes some sense for Hallmark to go after this “untapped audience.” Keneally pointed out that Hallmark is never one to be shy when it comes to marking an occasion: “Hallmark Cards, founded in 1910, is known for its celebration of oft-overlooked holidays in addition to the more typical calendar highlights. 
Cards for Tax Day (April 15) and Administrative Professionals Day (April 25) are also sold on the company’s website.”

Do me a favour. John Bershad at Mediaite wasn’t such a big fan of the new cards. “Yes, because there’s nothing unemployed people like more than knowing their friends still have enough money to spend $5.99 on a piece of paper,” he sniped. He appealed to unemployed readers to let him know how they felt: “if someone showed up at your door right now with a brightly colored piece of paper featuring a cartoon dog, a pun, and a poorly recorded version of a 90s one-hit-wonder’s chorus as conciliation, how likely is the chance you’d punch them in the face? Just curious.”

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