We are accustomed at this time of year to holiday cards finding their way to our doors and email boxes. Invariably, they present gauzy Christmas or winter themes of trees, snowfall or visions of peace.
And then United Process Service sent one to me. As you can see at right, the cover of the card doesn’t present elves, sleds, stars or toys. It presents devastation from Hurricane Sandy.
This is not, quite obviously, what people expect to see in a holiday card.
Each Christmas season Above the Law has a card contest that features a variety of innovative ways for law firms to send their greetings to the world, usually in electronic form since it expands the possibilities of creativeness. They are looking for clever, for funny, for cool.
Here’s a nice selection from 2010, including an electronic twinkly one from Gordon & Rees. As the WSJ Law Blog notes, Pillsbury Winthrop did a cute little stab at legal disclaimers in 2008. You can find lots of other fun little cards on those pages, as well as in other year’s contests.
Above the Law announced yesterday its fourth iteration of the contest, with highlights of some past cards. As one of its rules, the card has to be an e-card. The United Process came to me snail mail.
So United Process is not going to win this contest with their card. Nor do I think they were trying. Nor do I think they care. That hardly seems to be the point. It is not funny, or clever, or cool. It fails every test of what a holiday card should be.
But sometimes a card comes along and clubs you over the head and says, in polite terms, “Go count your blessings, dammit.” This is that card.
And this is the greeting on the inside — it will not win any awards for prose, but it makes its point crystal clear: