A tech giant, the fifth-largest beauty company in the world, and a pictorial publisher recently made disparaging remarks about flowers as Mother’s Day gifts in their springtime promotions. As the “watchdog” of the floral industry, the Society of American Florists has contacted Amazon, Avon and the Pediment Group to point out their negativity and asked them to reconsider their approach.

Several florists reported Amazon’s post on Facebook: “Skip the flowers and chocolate this Mother’s Day and get your mom something personal. Find the perfect gift for your unique mom on Amazon.”

SAF responded to Amazon by commenting on the post: “Flowers come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and can be custom arranged especially for mom to fit her unique personality. Plus, research shows that flowers increase enjoyment and life satisfaction. Who doesn’t want to WOW mom and make her happy?!”

SAF also emailed Amazon headquarters: “We are surprised Amazon would post such a message on social media — especially since Amazon sells everything, including flowers and chocolates. On behalf of thousands of small businesses in the floral industry, we respectfully request that you remove the disparaging reference to flowers in the post, and instead focus on the many wonderful benefits of buying gifts from Amazon. Keeping things positive reflects well on all involved.”

At press time, SAF had not received a response from Amazon.

SAF reached out to Avon after hearing from a floral designer who also works as an Avon representative. The beauty company recently released three products: “Better Than Flowers Haiku Gift Set,” “Better Than Flowers Far Away Gift Set” and “Better Than Flowers 6-Piece Coffret.” In addition, the company’s Campaign 10 Brochure includes phrases such as “She deserves something BETTER THAN FLOWERS” and “Go Beyond the Boring Bouquet.”

In a message to Avon headquarters, SAF wrote: “These negative floral remarks seem contradictory to the beautiful floral graphics you use to bring attention to your products. You also should consider that disparaging remarks about flowers run the risk of alienating loyal customers and your representatives – florists and their staff who buy and sell Avon products.”

The Pedimont Group, a publisher of pictorial books, ran ads in the La Crosse Tribune and The Missoulian Newspaper headlined, “Flowers are overrated. Give the gift of history this Mother’s Day.”

SAF emailed The Pediment Group, and received a response the same day from company president Chris Fenison: “This came to my attention earlier this morning through another channel and the ad has already been pulled. We are working on a replacement for our newspaper partner now. We clearly missed the marked on this campaign. I apologize. Of course, we also love flowers and have even published books for the American Rose Society. We will be sure to think through potential impacts on other industries more carefully in the future.”

To report negative portrayals of flowers, members should contact Jenny Scala, SAF’s director of marketing and communications, at jscala@safnow.org.