Hallmark, the card-and-gift company for all things festive and merry, has released an image of a new ornament for the 2013 holiday season. The ornament, in the shape of a sweater, has a lyric from the classic "Deck the Halls," but one word has been clearly omitted and replaced. Rather than donning "gay apparel," the clothes are now simply "fun."
The change in lyrics was reportedly made to promote clearer understanding of the song in a modern-day context.
HuffPost reports:
A spokeswoman for Hallmark said the line was intentionally changed to prevent misinterpretation by holiday shoppers.
"When the lyrics to 'Deck the Halls' were translated from Gaelic and published in English back in the 1800s, the word 'gay' meant festive or merry," Kristi Ernsting told The Huffington Post in an email. "Today it has multiple meanings … 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.'"
She added: "That's the spirit we intended and the spirit in which we hope ornament buyers will take it."
Do you take offense at the sweater's alterations? Or is it okay for Hallmark to reframe "Deck the Halls" for a modern audience?
Photo via Hallmark.
