Clintons reject Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ for ‘Father-Free’ cards
Fathers4Justice today called on supporters to step up action against card retailer Clintons after the chain refused to stock the groups Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ in favour of what the group are calling ‘father-free’ cards.
Clinton’s were offered 5,000 units of free Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ in early May to give away to customers as part of the groups attempt to raise awareness about the plight of separated dads this Father’s Day, Sunday 18th June.
Tim Fairs, Vice President of Markeing and eCommerce from Clintons responded a month later to say that with ‘only 2 weeks to go we will not be able to support you’.
Yesterday, Clintons announced a new range of Father’s Day cards for ‘mums and father-figures in recognition of single mums who fulfill the father role.’
Fathers4Justice have called on supporters to ‘donate’ free stock of their Father’s Day Reality Cards on the card racks of Clintons, in what they are describing as protest by ‘reverse shoplifting’.
Said Fathers4Justice founder Matt O’Connor, “This is yet another example of a retailer undermining Father’s Day by twisting the meaning of it in a desperate attempt to sell more cards.”
“Children only have one father. You wouldn’t undermine mums on Mother’s Day by selling cards that say they can be replaced by ‘mother-figures’, so why the reverse sexism?’
“We can understand now why Clintons refused to stock our Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ which highlighted the desperate plight of separated dads.”
“Clintons would rather peddle their customers an offensive, fictionalised version of Father’s Day than tell them the facts.”
“We are disappointed that they appear more concerned with selling ‘father-free’ cards than saving lives.”
READ THE CLINTON’S PRESS RELEASE BELOW
Download the Father’s day Reality Cards artwork here: https://www.fathers-4-justice.org/2017/06/download-fathers-day-reality-cards-retailers/
Read more about the Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ here: https://www.fathers-4-justice.org/2017/06/fathers-dismay-new-cards-depicting-reality-fathers-day-separated-dads-rejected-retailers/
Watch the launch of Father’s Day ‘Reality Cards’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9plJv1EQ-4
CLINTONS PRESS RELEASE: 15 JUNE 2017
“HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, MUM”:
STEP-FATHERS, FATHER-FIGURES, GRANDFATHERS AND MUMS
GET DEDICATED CARDS FOR THIS YEAR’S FATHER’S DAY
Clintons expands its range of Father’s Day cards to reflect the rich diversity of modern British families
Overwhelmingly traditional range of around 900 cards also includes cards for ‘father-figures’, single mums who fulfill the father role and ‘someone special’
‘From the cat’ and ‘from the bump’ options join the list, which also includes cards for Step-Fathers and Grandfathers, but as yet no ‘Father Christmas’ occasion hybrid
National card and gift retailer Clintons has introduced a Father’s Day card for mums to reflect the wider role of single parents. A Mother’s Day card for dads will be introduced to the range in time for Mother’s Day 2018. The 900-strong Father’s Day card overwhelmingly features cards for traditional families but also includes some new options to reflect the diversity of family arrangements today.
According to the Office of National Statistics in 2016 there were 18.9 million families in the U.K. Of the 2.9 million lone parent families in the UK in 2016, the majority (86%) were headed by a female lone parent, the remaining 14% were headed by a male lone parent. These percentages have changed little over the last 20 years.
Tim Fairs, a director at Clintons, said: “The vast majority of Father’s Day cards that we offer are traditional and there are currently around 900 Father’s Day options in our range. Recently we’ve been asked by customers whether it’s time to cater for a wider range of family circumstances. Our ‘Happy Father’s Day Mum’ card is just one of many examples of new cards that we’re bringing to our range. We have wedding cards for same sex couples, for instance, and we think it’s really important that we continue to reflect the changing shape of modern families and meet the needs of our customers.”
Tim Fairs added: “In response to demand we’re also looking at a range of Single Parent’s Day cards for March 21st to reflect the wishes of parents who don’t wish their role to be defined by gender.”
The new card is available from all Clintons stores in the U.K. It joins the 900 traditional Father’s Day cards in the Clintons range.
– Ends –
Notes to Editors
Clintons was founded in 1968 and is a leading retailer of greeting cards, gifts and wrap in the United Kingdom. There are currently over 400 stores all over the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as a fully transactional website. Every year, over 30 million people visit our stores.
We require all our suppliers to comply with applicable law, including the EU timber regulations. FSC, or Forest Stewardship Council, is widely respected as having one of the most robust and stringent forest certification programs in place to ensure ethical sourcing of paper products. We continue to strive to ensure the ethical sourcing of our timber products. https://www.clintonsretail.com
