Card firm: Stop using lewd shots on personalised gifts

A gREETiNg card personalised with your own photo is a very modern way of showing someone you’re thinking of them.

But some, however, seem to think nothing gets that message across better than a lewd picture of themselves.

Now online business Moonpig has asked customers to stop trying to order cards and other gifts adorned with a close-up of their private parts, after a number slipped through checks that normally rejects them and made it on to its products.

The company provides thousands of templates that customers can personalise with photos and their own message, which are then made into their choice of cards, mugs, mouse mats and other objects before being posted out to the recipient.

Moonpig said its rules banning pornographic images are broken on a daily basis, with even more obscene romantic gestures attempted for Valentine’s Day cards.

Last night it wrote on Twitter: ‘Please stop uploading pics of your genitals to our cards. it is against our terms and conditions.’ But maybe its message didn’t come across clear enough, as one potential customer responded with the question: ‘Do you do pop-up cards?’

A Moonpig spokesman said: ‘We produce anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 cards a day and at least two or three of those might infringe our terms. We have one guy who’s particularly good at spotting them, although a couple occasionally slip through the cracks.

‘We also see a massive rise around Valentine’s Day, with as many as 20 a day that we have to deny. And yes, the girls are as bad as the boys.’

Moonpig was founded by former Dragons’ Den judge Nick Jenkins in 2000, who has claimed the unusual brand name was his nickname at school, and was bought by digital photo firm Photobox for £120million in 2011 amid soaring demand for personalised online services. Moonpig’s sales rose 17 per cent to £85.8million last year.