'Baby Daddy' Father's Day Card Does Not Go Over Well

American Greetings apologizes
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 14, 2018 12:40 PM CDT
Maker Pulls 'Baby Daddy' Father's Day Card Amid Uproar
Stock photo of greeting cards in a store.   (Getty/Trong Nguyen)

It's for occasions like this that American Greetings sells "I'm sorry" cards: The greeting card maker is apologizing after customers took issue with one of its Father's Day cards. The front shows the phrase "Baby Daddy" over an image of a black couple kissing, which some interpreted as racially insensitive, per USA Today. (See an image of the card here.) American Greetings responded, pointing to the loving inside message, addressed to "a wonderful husband and father." But it acknowledged "the front page, taken out of context, can communicate an unintentional meaning that we are strongly against perpetuating." Therefore, "we have notified our store merchandisers to remove the card from the shelves and apologize for any offense we've caused."

Target, however, was already working to remove the card from some 900 stores following complaints on social media. "This was the only Father's Day card that featured a black couple," Takeisha Saunders wrote in a May 31 Facebook post after seeing the card at a Target in Rockwall, Texas. "Baby daddy" is "not sweet or nice. It's a term used to describe a deadbeat or absent parent," she added. Others said the card was an example of "microagression racism," per Fox News. "We appreciate the feedback and apologize," Target says in a statement of its own. "It's never our intent to offend any of our guests with the products we sell." If your intent is to offend dad this Father's Day, though, Slate may have found the card for you. (More baby daddy stories.)

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