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American Greetings Artists and Writers Draw on Personal Experience - - - - CLEVELAND, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Although Passover remains a solemn and holy Jewish observance, humor earns a place setting at this year's Seder meal. Due in part to today's informal lifestyles, one-fourth of American Greetings L'Chayim Passover greeting cards take a lighthearted look at the holiday's traditions. Passover, observed April 20-27 this year, brings families and friends together to commemorate the Festival of Freedom celebrating deliverance from Egyptian slavery. An important part of the celebration involves sharing a ceremonial Seder meal served in Jewish homes on the first night of Passover. "The entire holiday fosters a spirit of camaraderie among Jewish friends and family," said Scott Mendenhall, humorous writer and artist for American Greetings L'Chayim Passover greeting cards. "The slice-of-life situations depicted in our humorous Passover cards have broad appeal because they reference rituals commonly observed by all Jewish sects." Cards referring to the Seder service seem to get the most laughs. The Seder is a special Passover meal where greens, bitter herbs, roasted egg, shankbone, charoset (a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine) and parsley are displayed on a Seder plate. "A Seder Plate for the New Millennium" card was the brainchild of Terri Libenson, another writer and artist for the company's Passover offering. Her rendition of a modern Seder plate pokes fun at today's health craze mentality. The shankbone is reduced with low-fat tofu, bitter herb with trendy Espresso and roasted egg with cholesterol-free Egg Beaters(R). Libenson says she draws her inspiration from current events and amusing anecdotes of family members. Mendenhall and his team used historical religious reference to create a funny "Moses" card. The front of the card pictures Moses as a child standing outside a swimming pool waving to other children in the pool. The children have confused looks on their faces because the pool waters have been parted. The card reads: "The other kids always hated it when little Moses came to the pool." According to Mendenall, the majority of Passover cards are purchased for close friends and family. "People enjoy buying these cards to express their sense of humor to family and close friends," he said. According to American Greetings research, Passover is one of the top three Jewish greeting card occasions. An estimated six million Jewish Americans will observe the eight-day celebration.* L'Chayim, which means "to life" in Hebrew, is American Greetings' answer to Jewish holiday greeting card needs. American Greetings has been offering a special Jewish card line for more than 20 years, and is considered an industry leader. The company also offers a full range of traditional and religious cards for the holiday as well as value-priced cards for consumers who send many Passover greetings. A few years ago, American Greetings initiated a major campaign to make greeting cards more relevant to new and emerging lifestyle trends. The resulting All New American Way 2000 card strategy identified social trends impacting today's communication needs, and led to thousands of new greeting cards geared to changing attitudes. Humorous Passover cards address two of these important trends. One trend is the emergence of casual, informal lifestyles causing a renewed interest in humor. Second is the demand for specialized product that reflects individual lifestyles or cultural heritage. American Greetings (NYSE: AM) is the world's largest publicly held creator, manufacturer and distributor of greeting cards and special occasion products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company employs 21,000 associates and is home to one of the world's largest creative studios. SOURCE American Greetings
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