A bad joke or real? QUESTION: Is this 'Baby Daddy' Father's Day card showing an African American couple kissing real or a really bad joke? ANSWER: It's real and being pulled from stores that stock American Greetings cards, like Target. SOURCES: Patrice Molnar- American Greetings- Communications Director Joshua Thomas- Target- Spokesperson Ask Target Twitter Account PROCESS: All over social media people are shaking their heads. A picture gone viral shows a card with an African American couple kissing and red cursive letters reading, "Baby Daddy" emblazoned on the cover. So it real or a really bad joke? American Greetings confirms the card is authentic and they've apologized, saying they didn't mean any offense. Spokesperson Patrice Molnar issued the following statement: "In this instance, this particular card was created for, and addressed to, a loving husband—which the inside copy makes clear. However, we now see that the front page, taken out of context, can communicate an unintentional meaning that we are strongly against perpetuating and is not consistent with our company purpose and values. We should do better in the future, and we will. We have notified our store merchandisers to remove the card from all retailer shelves and apologize for any offense we’ve caused." Beyond the cover, the message inside the card sings a different tune: "You're a wonderful husband and father -- and I'm so grateful to have you as my partner, my friend, and my baby daddy! Happy Father's Day" Target customers first raised concerns about the card last week. Since then Target has worked with American Greetings on pulling the item from 900 of their stores. "We want all guests to feel welcomed and respected when they shop at Target," Joshua Thomas, a Target spokesperson said. "We appreciate the feedback and apologize. It’s never our intent to offend any of our guests with the products we sell." We can Verify this Baby Daddy Father's Day card is real.<doc-sep>American Greetings is apologizing for a Father's Day card that depicts a black couple overlaid with the phrase "Baby Daddy." Customers took to social media to complain about the card, terming it racially insensitive. The phrase "Baby Daddy" is "not sweet or nice," wrote Dallas-based Facebook user Takeisha Saunders, one of the first customers to complain about the card. "It’s a term used to describe a deadbeat or absent parent. Yeah it’s sweet on the inside, but whomever created this card doesn’t know what it means." The greeting card company said it would stop selling the card at all retailers. Target, the giant discount-store chain, proactively pulled the card from its shelves. The card showed the couple overlaid and the words "Baby Daddy" on the cover, and "You're a wonderful husband and father — and I'm so grateful to have you as my partner, my friend, and my baby daddy! Happy Father's Day" on the inside. "This particular card was created for, and addressed to, a loving husband — which the inside copy makes clear," American Greetings said in a statement. "However, we now see that the front page, taken out of context, can communicate an unintentional meaning that we are strongly against perpetuating and is not consistent with our company purpose and values." It went on to say it will do "better in the future," that it has pulled the card and that it want s to "apologize for any offense we’ve caused." Target, which was selling the card at about half of its more than 1,800 stores, had already decided to remove the card after noticing complaints on social media. "We want all guests to feel welcomed and respected when they shop at Target," Target spokesperson Joshua Thomas said in a statement. "We were made aware of some concerns about this card last week and are working with our vendor to have it removed from Target stores. We appreciate the feedback and apologize. It’s never our intent to offend any of our guests with the products we sell." More Money:Supermodel Kate Upton vindicated as Guess sex harassment probe claims co-founder More Money:Up to 70% off! Last chance to shop at Toys R Us stores as end nears More Money:Least livable: 50 worst US cities to reside in More Money:Free beer! Free meals! How dads can score for Father's Day Sunday Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.<doc-sep>HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Exploitation of all things urban are expected as pop culture continuously hops on whatever lemons we turn into lemonade. But American Greetings went overboard when they decided it would be cute to release some “Baby Daddy” cards for Father’s Day which featured a Black couple kissing on the front of the card. Yeah, we’re not sure who thought this was a good idea, but American Greeting and Target saw nothing wrong with the card. Needless to say the backlash was swift and though the words “husband” and “father” were a part of the inside message, everyone knew which audience this was aimed at and what it implies. Looking to clean up the mess they spilled, American Greetings pulled the card from Target and issued an apology to anyone who was offended. “This particular card was created for, and addressed to, a loving husband—which the inside copy makes clear. However, we now see that the front page, taken out of context, can communicate an unintentional meaning that we are strongly against perpetuating and is not consistent with our company purpose and values. We should do better in the future, and we will. We have notified our store merchandisers to remove the card from the shelves and apologize for any offense we’ve caused.” Maybe if it was a Caucasian couple they would’ve gotten the benefit of the doubt, but nah. A spokesperson for Target also issued a statement to explain their stance on the controversy and also apologize for not considering its racist undertone. “We want all guests to feel welcomes and respected when they shop at Target. We were made aware of some concerns about this card last week and are working with our vendor to have it removed from Target stores. We appreciate the feedback and apologize. It’s never our intent to offend any of our guests with the products we sell.” Hindsight is 20/20 ain’t it? And though lots of people were offended by the notion of there being a baby daddy Father’s Day card, others made light of the product and laughed it off. Check out some of the mixed reactions below and let us know if this is a big deal, little deal, or no deal. 1 2 3 4 5Next page »<doc-sep>
NewsOne Featured Video CLOSE This is what happens when there are no Black people in the room: you create racist content that gets your company blasted on social media. American Greetings had the foolish idea to create a card that read “Baby Daddy” — for Father’s Day. There is a Black couple on the cover and on the inside it says, “You’re a wonderful husband and father — and I’m so grateful to have you as my partner, my friend, and my baby daddy! Happy Father’s Day.” In addition, Target had the nerve to sell the card. See below: SEE ALSO: Calls For Starbucks Boycott After The Company’s Weak Apology For A Racist Arrest Obviously, there was outrage on social media at American Greetings and Target: Target pulled the card from their stores, and American Greetings apologized. Their statement read, “This particular card was created for, and addressed to, a loving husband — which the inside copy makes clear. However, we now see that the front page, taken out of context, can communicate an unintentional meaning that we are strongly against perpetuating and is not consistent with our company purpose and values. We should do better in the future, and we will. We have notified our store merchandisers to remove the card from the shelves and apologize for any offense we’ve caused.” Sounds like a weak apology. Taken out of context? The context is accurate, people on their creative team thought this would be a fabulous idea and they were ridiculously wrong. Target also released a statement, saying, “We want all guests to feel welcomed and respected when they shop at Target. We were made aware of some concerns about this card last week and are working with our vendor to have it removed from Target stores. We appreciate the feedback and apologize. It’s never our intent to offend any of our guests with the products we sell.” SEE ALSO: Forgive But Don’t Forget: Remembering Those Times When Barbara Bush Waded Into The Waters Of Race Billy Graham’s Complicated Relationship With Black America, Explained Woman Shouts N-Word, Literally Stops The Show At ‘Black Panther’ NJ Screening