Years ago, if we had a card or some other product with a swear word on it, we’d receive complaints all through the day, many complaints. The same product today would attract one, maybe two, complaints a week.
10+ years ago we had a card from Spirit in one of my shops that had a small balloon on the front as the penis. We had a customer who would come in and cut the penis off.
I think what offends people today is different. Swears on cards and other products attract more laughs than complaints. I think the balloon penis would be the same if we had it.
There is a strength in the way swear words are used on some cards, a cleverness, too.
We are careful, of course, to not shine a light on these cards at the counter. rather, they are in the card mix, where you’d expect the shopper likely to purchase this card to look.
The Affirmations card business released their defamations range some years ago. It’s a raunchy range with plenty of swears. It sells very well. Retailers often tell me of the laughs they hear from the part of the store where the defamations products are located.
I guess my point here is that swear words are not the turn off they were 10+ years ago. Today, they will most likely help you win sales, and they will, for sure, make your shop relevant to a wider group of shoppers.
I’ve used cards with swear words on their in social media posts, with success. A common response is people tagging friends in the post.
There are plenty of suppliers now playing in this space. My advice in case you don’t have these types products in store is have a crack as you are likely to find new shoppers.
In the UK, the Scribbler group has built their business on cards like these. You only have to stand in one of their shops and realise the broad age range appeal of raunchy cards – older women, 75+, especially appear to like the humour.
Personally, I am drawn to the more nuanced used of swear words, like you can see on the card included with this post. I think it’s smart and relevant.