The issue is settled: Hallmark selling gay marriage cards

You can’t get more mainstream than this.

The nation’s largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards — featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. “Two hearts. One promise,” one says. … The Greeting Card Association, a trade group, says it does not track how many companies provide same-sex cards but believes the number is expanding. “The fact that you have someone like Hallmark going into that niche shows it’s growing and signals a trend,” said Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the association.

Have to say since gay marriage became legal here in the Bay State the biggest difference I’ve noticed is … um … yeah … let me see … nope. Can’t think of one. I look forward to the American Family Association boycott of Hallmark. (My bad — it’s Concerned Women for America calling for the boycott.)

BTW, over on her blog Mrs. CollateralDamage has a most excellent post on First Same-Sex Civil Marriage at Disneyland. The couple is lovely and the fact that they got married at Disneyland puts the lie to the fact that only heteros are tacky. (Truth is I had to put in a snarky (and false) comment so I wouldn’t mention the fact that I got all choked up looking at the wedding pictures. I gotta protect my image. Don’t tell anyone I told you, OK?)

Photo by Chenin Boutwell.

C’mon now what marketer can look at a couple that is so happy and not think, “Damn, there’s money to made here!”

(BTW, this is the headline of the day: Gay misery continues with baton drop. Is that really all it takes to make the LGBT community miserable?)

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Hallmark anti-AIDS card says let’s get drunk and …

Talk about your mixed messages.

Found this at AdFreak:

The front cover of the card features two glasses of wine held by two hands and reads, “pardon me….” On the inside is printed, “care for some liquid clothes remover?”

Sadly what brought this to the attention of the press was NOT the fact that there is no mention of safe sex procedures. No, this got noticed because some outraged person viewed it as promoting promiscuity among teens. (Something, it should be noted, that’s about as tough to promote as water among the Bedouin.)

[ Cyndi] Desrosiers said she first saw the card in a Dover [NH] Hallmark store in an area designated for a “RED” line of cards, from which proceeds are reportedly spend to combat AIDS in Africa. “I find it ironic given that they’re promoting sexual promiscuity,” she said. “The target audience, in my opinion, is young adults.”

What is not at all clear is why Ms. Desrosiers thinks that the card is aimed at the young and the restless. Has red wine become all the rage among the youth of today? Or maybe sending greeting cards? Hallmark can only hope.

Ms. D brought the card and her complaint to clerks at two different card stores in NH. Apparently the concept of the clueless customer is always right is well ingrained in the Granite State. Both clerks removed the cards from the shelves.

Let’s see you try that in Boston. We’ll curse you out just for buying the damn thing.

The TRUE dying Cub fan’s last request

Nothing quite goes together like baseball and fiery incineration, I say. That would explain the licensing agreement just signed between Major League Baseball and Eternal Image Inc., a company which produces caskets and urns. Now that’s co-branding. The scary thing is I know they’ll sell. While I wouldn’t expect there to be a lot of requests for stuff with the Devil Rays’ logo on it (although that may turn out to be a hit with the Satanists), I know more than a few people likely to want those for a lot of other teams. Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals … the list does go on. Cubs fans probably won’t be so interested though, they’ve already spent one eternity waiting to see their team rise again.*

However, there are far worse things than being buried in MLB copyrighted logos and colors. Eternal Image also a licensing agreements with Hallmark’s nauseating Precious Moments line. It would be like being buried in a Kewpie Doll. Still, that might be preferable to wearing Yankee pin stripes until the Second Coming or the heat death of the universe or whatever else you believe in. Eternal Image also has deals with the American Kennel Club and The Vatican Library Collection.

*FWIW, Mrs. Collateral Damage and I would like to invite you to a party we’ve been planning. It’s for sometime in the summer of 2008 and will be marking the centennial of the Cubs last winning the World Series. The exact date has yet to be determined because it will be on whatever day the Cubs are mathematically eliminated from play-off contention. While there are many who rightfully think we could hold the game on opening day, Mrs. CD is a stickler for accuracy and so we will wait until a little later in the season. This of course pre-supposes the Cubs will manage to not win (or even appear in) the Series in the next two years. A risk I’m willing to take.