Hallmark on Thursday apologized for
replacing “gay” with “fun” on a holiday ornament.
The greeting card giant at first
defended altering the lyrics to Deck the Halls on a
miniaturized version of a holiday sweater it began selling this week.
The ornament replaces the word “gay” with “fun” in the
phrase “Don we now our gay apparel!”
The change attracted controversy on
social media, with some people stating that the decision was
homophobic.
“Homophobic?” CNN anchor Carol
Costello tweeted. “I say, yes you are.”
“The trend of wearing festively
decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this
ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided
to say what we meant: 'fun,'” Hallmark said. “That's the spirit
we intended and the spirit in which we hope ornament buyers will take
it.”
On Thursday, Hallmark reversed course,
insisting that the lyric change was not a political statement.
“We've been surprised at the wide
range of reactions expressed about the change of lyrics on this
ornament, and we're sorry to have caused so much concern,” the
company said in a statement. “We never intend to offend or make
political statements with our products and in hindsight, we realize
we shouldn't have changed the lyrics on the ornament.”
A Hallmark spokeswoman told
the AP that the company has no plans to stop selling the
ornament.