Offensive & Delightful, a 10-year-old company started by a former graphic designer, is among a new breed of greeting card companies specializing in the funny —and, occasionally, the scandalous.
Merry Christmas? Happy Birthday? Congratulations?
Those are the worn-out greetings of another era.
That’s according to The New York Times, which recently charted the rise of a “new breed of greeting cards … more cheeky than anything with a Hallmark stamp.” (Sample verbiage from popular cards: “I can’t wait to sob uncontrollably at your wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and “You’re so gangsta.”)
The Times pegs the emergence of the new cards in part to social media, where “happy birthday” messages and “kissy-face emojis” are funneled through Facebook with such frequency that many of the traditional greetings lose their punch. (If 300 friends write “happy birthday” on your wall, how special do the two words really feel?) For its part, The Greeting Card Association says people are still buying printed cards, especially consumers in that coveted youthful demographic: 60 percent of millennials report buying at least one greeting card in the past year.
That’s good news for greeting card makers and the retailers that sell them, especially if you can source or create cards that hit the sweet spot of funny and subversive. Those are the kinds of one-of-a-kind-feeling messages that resonate with consumers and compel them to make a purchase.
“Ninety percent of all the cards are, I love you, sunshine, sparkle, sparkle, unicorn,” said Olga Krigman, the graphic designer behind the line Offensive and Delightful. “I just wanted a card that was like, ‘Ugh’— something that’s for me.”
Looking to capitalize on some of the new greeting card love? Check out some of the lines featured in the Times story (including Krigman’s) or solicit some of the all time funniest card messages from your team members. Even if you don’t have your own line of cards, you can share chuckle-worthy messages (anonymously of course) on social media. Doing so could help generate conversations and brand your business as a fun and youthful place to visit.
