One family’s holiday card has divided people online with many parents outraged by the photo.
Amanda Cooper, a travel and fashion influencer with over 14,000 followers on Instagram, wasn’t expecting to receive backlash when she originally shared the family photo on her page.
In a video posted on December 6, Cooper revealed close-ups of the image to expose a joke she orchestrated for her family’s card this year. As she zoomed-in, it became clear that each of her siblings were subtly pointing their middle fingers at the camera around their babies and next to their children.
According to Cooper, her mother Melynda King has always organized annual family shoots three times a year, picking color schemes they were all required to follow. This year, Cooper wanted to shake things up and prank her mom.
Speaking to Today, the social media influencer revealed she had texted her siblings in a group chat to suggest they all flip the camera off for one photo. But in order to do so discretely, they used “hippopotamus” as a code word just before the flash.
Cooper told Today: “So right before the middle finger picture, I called out, ‘Everyone say, ‘I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!’”
Despite her devotion to making each card perfect, King was amused by the joke. “I thought it was absolutely hilarious,” she said. However, many people who follow Cooper weren’t as entertained.
With over 2.4 million views on TikTok, her video generated hundreds of comments. Several people called the joke “sad,” while a few photographers complained about the time it would take them to edit all the middle fingers.
“This would make me so sad,” one person wrote. Another commented: “This is so disrespectful.”
“Unoriginal and you came off like a bunch of jerks on the internet! Congratulations,” a third person said on Instagram.
A candid woman remarked: “I’ve never had a family portrait taken in my life. I get this is funny maybe for close loving families but christ it hurts as someone who doesn’t have a ‘family’ lol.”
Amid all the criticisms, other viewers spoke out to defend Cooper’s joke and sense of humor.
“This is so funny and justified,” one supporter wrote, while another added: “I cannot wait for when the kids are older and get in on this tradition too!”
“Doing my best to raise my kids to have this sense of humor,” a third fan commented.
