February 03, 2009


"Boo," "Hiss," and Shame On You, Hallmark..............
I was going to post the pic of my Valentine tree today, but after seeing the latest Hallmark commercial for Valentine's Day I just had to vent a little. To set the scene you have three young girls eating lunch in their school cafeteria. It is Valentine's Day and they are each eagerly anticipating what their Mom has packed them for lunch as a special "treat." The first girl brings out an apple that has been decorated with heart stickers by her Mom (or Dad;). She is looking none to thrilled, let me tell you. The second girl opens up her bag and brings out a sandwich that has been lovingly cut in a heart shape by her Mom (or Dad;). The girl looks totally unimpressed, almost to the point of being annoyed. Cut to the third girl, who whips out an electronic Valentine card done by the ever popular Hannah Montana. Of course, this girl is grinning from ear to ear, and we then cut to see the jealous faces of the other two girls who are coveting that very card. Hallmark is then quick to tell us that for a mere $1.99, we can put a smile on our child's face, too. GRRRR.....................................
Now, I know Hallmark is in the card business and that is what they are trying to do, but what really, really, really BUGS ME is that they are trying to convey the idea that you have to spend money in order to make your child happy. What kind of message is that sending to our children? To me, something that is handmade with love is by far more precious than just plunking down a few bucks. Whatever happened to simplicity, and I guess the better question is "what is WRONG with it?" Are the days of homemade Valentine's cards over? Whatever happened to candy frosted cupackes and pink punch? Do we now have to take our kids to a fabulously expensive restaurant to PROVE our love? Do we have to spend more than we can afford to SHOW them that?
I think it would be safe to say that you will find in most of our memory boxes at home a few pink and red doily hearts that have simply been made with scissors, glue, and glitter, but they are absolutely filled to the brim with precious sentiment. And guess what, Hallmark? To us these cards are priceless!!! So Hallmark, go ahead and make all the Hannah Montana cards you want, just please don't insinuate to us and our children that things that are made from the heart are no good.

18 comments:

Sharon said...

Susan, I saw the advertisement that you are talking about and I agree with you. It makes the mothers that took the time to do something special for the girls look like nothing while the card said look at what my mother bought. I have always enjoyed the advertising that Hallmark has done but they fell short on this one. Hearts and Hugs......Sharon K

Christy said...

I didn't see the ad but your description was enough for me to picture it. To me the really sad part was the portrayal of the kids not appreciating the hard work of their mothers. I know it happens but it's still sad.

Annette said...

That's funny. I saw that same ad last night and similar thoughts ran through my mind. I thought Hallmark totally blew it this time around.

Kim @ Home Is Where The Heart Is said...

I have not seen this commercial, but will keep my eye out for it. How sad...thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

I haven't seen that advertisement but I'm not surprised.

I was grocery shopping and Target and passed by their Valentine's Day display. There was an entire area of Hannah Montana "stuff".

I refuse to purchase any Holiday items with teenage starlets on them (and they always cost more, too!)

I looked for lunch boxes on clearance during the autumn, to send to my four grandchildren. It took me weeks of searching to find four that didn't have a celebrity on them (I wanted each one to be individual).

Usually Hallmark does much better than that, I hope they get plenty of feedback.

Michelle said...

Great post, Susan. I agree with you - that commercial was really something, wasn't it? I'm honestly not a big Hallmark shopper anyhow...you know I prefer handmade ;)

Hugs,
Michelle

Sibyl said...

I haven't seen the commercial either, but I have decided not to purchase Hallmark any longer since they started making Same Sex cards for weddings and such.

Firefly Nights said...

Once again, I like the way you think.

Essential Oil Premier University said...

Well Ha-Ha on Hallmark ~ this year. . . Valentine's Day is on a Saturday. A non-school day ;) ~ so the kids won't be opening any Hannah Montana cards at the lunch table to make their friends jealous now will they ? LOL

I say we make heart pancakes for them for breakfast. . . now that will rock their world :) AND their friends won't be around to be too cool to eat them either.

Blessings,

Sher

Dawn said...

Amen, sistah!
RE/ anything H*nnah M*ntana: Blech!

Anonymous said...

Right on, girl!!! I totally agree with you and shame on Hallmark...just out for the almighty dollar and inspires me to get busy and MAKE something special (at home, with what I have) for my six special grands.

CAA

Carrie Garvin said...

I have not seen that commerical, but you wrote it very well to understand.

Shame on Hallmark.

P.S. I came over from Jackie's wonderful blog.

Arlene G said...

Totally agree....thanks for making us think about the ads that we see on tv. I make Valentine Bags for all of my grown children as well as hubby and the grands. I would hate to think that they did not appreciate them! Love your Valentines Tree as well.

Anonymous said...

The little girl who gets the apple with the stickers is the actress who plays Bridget in the NBC show Medium. She steals every scene she's in on that show. There are two other sisters but they rarely show them as they don't have as much personality as that little girl.

Julie H. Rose said...

Hi. I wrote a negative blog post about this ad, too. Did you receive a letter from Hallmark? I did today and am told that they are going to stop running this ad. Evidentally, it made a lot of people angry.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who was dismayed by this commercial. I plan to contact Hallmark and tell them so!
I'm a grandmother of 12, and feel that Hallmark should use positive promotions rather than featuring something that puts down loving gestures like heart-shaped sandwiches. There are going to be more and more people who can't afford to buy cards.
Thanks for putting this in your blog!

Anonymous said...

uhm okay not to be rude but that commercial is hilarious and your looking a little tooo deep into it ..its an ad i mean it was funnnny(: but whateverrrr lol

DeeDee Dinah said...

Susan,

I totally agree with you. Children of today need to know that it is the sweet, simple, things of life..which are the best. Seems that is not what makes the most money. But that is not what it is all about anyway.