CHICAGO — Greeting card company Hallmark’s recent snafu replacing the word ‘gay’ with the word ‘fun’ on a holiday sweater ornament has prompted Chicago-based Rocco Shirts to produce three holiday sweatshirts, featuring the traditional ‘gay’ apparel as well as sweatshirts with ‘straight’ and ‘bi’. The original Christmas Carol of course featured the words “Don we now our gay apparel.”
“We’ve got something for everyone,” said Bernie DiMeo, founder/owner of Rocco Shirts. DiMeo also called Hallmark’s move “ridiculous” and said that “political correctness in this country has run more than amok.”
“I’m surprised the anti-smoking lobby hasn’t gone off on Frosty and his corn cob pipe,” DiMeo said adding “darn it, now I gave them the idea.”
Rocco Shirts hopes its sweatshirts sell well along with other non-traditional shirts including “Dear Santa, Define Nice”, “You Can Jingle My Bells Anytime” and “Merry Christmas to My First Wife.”
DiMeo said that by having straight, gay and bi sweatshirts his company has increased its target market substantially. “I don’t think we left anyone out,” he said. For more information go to www.roccoshirts.com
