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cardsharp
The China syndrome Try telling people that lived through two World Wars, that the globe today has never been in a more dire situation. In fact, despite the war in Ukraine, in the first 22 years of the 21st century, fewer people have died in human conflict than in any other two decades in the last two millennia. And aparently there are fewer people living in poverty, than at any time in world history. To Cardsharp, what makes the present day unique is the influence of modern technology, the internet, social media and millions of online platforms. It makes us feel that the world is in the midst of constant crisis. Which it is, but then it always has been.
Thanks to the multifarious media platforms, to Cardsharp’s mind it seems that every issue is elevated to a crisis and there is a moral outrage angle that someone wants to exploit. The world is experiencing some terrible stuff - the war in Ukraine, rampant inflation and global warming, for starters - but why then pick on the humble Christmas card?! Our industry has had enough to deal with in the last vital quarter. The cost-ofliving crisis and how that will affect Christmas card sales, the strength of the dollar affecting manufacturing costs and the endless run of postal strikes hitting us throughout December. We normally get very
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: The only thing that hasn’t happened is an alien invasion that threatens the future of humanity, as featured in the War of the Worlds film based on HG Wells’ book. Left: The Telegraph unfairly chose to pick on boxed Christmas cards that have been made in China. Below left: Martin Lewis has not helped the industry in suggesting that people save money by not sending Christmas cards.
unfairly battered in the media about charity Christmas cards and the percentage that reaches the good causes, but thankfully this Christmas past, we were spared that particular media outrage. We even had the self-appointed ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis, who has made a fortune giving such sage advice on topics such as ‘How much does it cost to keep your Christmas lights on?’, advising people to save money by not sending Christmas cards. But in late November, we were hit with a real left fielder that no one could have predicted. It came from an unlikely source the esteemed Daily Telegraph of all places and its senior news reporter, Patrick Sawer. The headline was bad enough: ‘High Street shops accused of hypocrisy as
almost half of Christmas cards are made in China’. The article went on to accuse high street shops of a lack of sensitivity as well as hypocrisy for outsourcing to China, where Christians are routinely persecuted. The Telegraph ‘found’ that nearly half of the Christmas cards sold by major high street retailers and supermarkets are printed in China. Wow, that took some investigative journalism thought Cardsharp! This, according to the Telegraph, is prompting concern over messages of hope and peace being produced in a country with a poor human rights record. It singled out the likes of Paperchase with 51 of its 57 multipacks made in China and WHSmith, with all ten of its multipacks from there and shock horror, including one that showed a festive London skyline.