Hallmark Cards pulled the above silver-and-blue patterned gift wrap from retailers' shelves after a Walgreens customer spotted it in a Hanukkah display and filed a complaint because wait just a damn minute are those swastikas?

Probably not.

Hallmark claims the pattern was based on "an old Chinese vase," which makes sense given the symbol's significance in Eastern religions, the history of this particular repeating pattern, and the fact that half of the alleged swastikas on the gift wrap face in the opposite direction of the Nazi emblem. The left-facing version of the pattern is a common Buddhist symbol.

On the other hand, it might seem a tiny bit awkward that the paper was part of the Hanukkah section.

Hallmark spokesperson Julie Elliott told the Kansas City Star there was a perfectly reasonable, non-antisemitic explanation:

Hallmark has licensed the design in different colors, and it was not intended to be gift wrap for Hannukah, Elliott said. She said it appeared that the Walgreen's store in Northridge, Calif., where the woman complained, had put two rolls in its Hannukah display because of its blue and silver colors.

The California Walgreens store immediately pulled those two rolls, and the design has been recalled from all Walgreens locations to avoid future outrage.

[Photo: AP Images]