A florist called Karen has gone viral on social media this week, after she started giving away free flowers to anybody else who also shared the name Karen.
Over the last year, the name Karen has become a pejorative term to describe entitled and opinionated white women who abuse their privilege at the expense of people of color.
However, the memes and ridicule have undoubtedly left many innocent women actually called Karen quite upset.
This is why Karen Ferguson, the co-owner of the flower shop Flowers on 50th (situated in Edmonton in Canada) decided to gift other Karens free flowers for a whole week.
According to a recent report by CTV News Edmonton, a sign was posted outside the florist's earlier in October, and the offer was also advertised on Flowers on 50th's official Facebook page.
The sign read:
Recently, a woman named Karen was compelled to change her name, due to it becoming a derogatory term:"We are here for Karens for the next week so anyone named Karen can come in and get some free flowers.
"We thought Karens deserve some love because of all the memes out there, some funny, some mean."
Indeed, Karen Ferguson herself has been surprised by how quickly her offer took off, telling CTV News Edmonton that: "I had no idea how many Karens there are. On one social media post, there was about 200 Karens tagged."
On Facebook, a number of women called Karen have reacted positively to the offer.
For example, one Facebook user wrote: "I am a Karen and want to thank you for showing the love.
"Being a Karen has become such a nightmare that I've had to change my name on Facebook just to get away from the horrible comments. Thanks so much for brightening up this Karen's day."
In a later follow-up post on Facebook, the two owners wrote: "This has gone bigger then we thought it would. But the joy We have seen from every Karen that has come in for her flowers has been heartwarming. And it’s been a whole lot of fun !!! [sic]"
Indeed, the name seems to have been tainted by negative associations lately, with experts claiming that the name Karen is currently at its lowest rate of popularity of newborn babies in 90 years.
