SAF has responded to these ads this Mother’s Day season. From left: Epicurious posted an article headlined, “12 Mother’s Day Gifts That’ll Last Longer Than a Bouquet of Flowers.” Snowe advertised “This Mother’s Day, skip the flowers.” A TJ Maxx TV commercial said, “get quality gifts she’ll love at prices you’ll love for less than the cost of a dozen roses.”
One of the largest clothing retailers in the country has promised to remove a Mother’s Day TV commercial after hearing from the Society of American Florists.
“We’re pulling down the ad as we speak,” said Doreen Thompson, vice president of Global Communications at TJ Maxx, in a phone call to SAF’s Jenny Scala, director of marketing and communications.
“We apologize,” Thompson added. “We love flowers.”
Three SAF members alerted SAF to the TJ Maxx commercial that says, “get quality gifts she’ll love at prices you’ll love for less than the cost of a dozen roses.” Small type on the screen reads, “Based on average cost of sending one dozen roses in the continental U.S. through a selection of national online florists.”
SAF emailed TJ Maxx: “Flowers are a popular gift for Mother’s Day and, therefore, get dissed a lot by advertisers, and we are surprised to see a company like TJ Maxx disparage other products. On behalf of the small businesses in the floral industry, we simply ask that you promote your products on their own wonderful merits and refrain from making unnecessary references to flowers.”
The next day, Thompson called Scala.
“Thank you for contacting us,” Thompson said. “We were so focused on showing value; it didn’t hit us that the ad was negative.”
TJ Maxx isn’t the only company SAF has contacted this Mother’s Day season.
Epicurious, a digital brand covering food and cooking-related topics, posted an article headlined: “12 Mother’s Day Gifts That’ll Last Longer Than a Bouquet of Flowers.” Terril Nell, AAF, Ph.D, American Floral Endowment Research Coordinator and former SAF Chairman, reported the headline and shared his response to Epicurious:
“My wife and I enjoy reading Epicurious and cook many of the recipes that you provide. And, they are the best! A nice dinner comes with good food, quality wine and beautiful flowers. Many, if not most, of your top chefs use floral arrangements when hosting cooking shows or presenting their ideas in magazines and books. Being a quality organization as Epicurious, I was very surprised and disappointed to see the recent story by Allison Russo titled ’12 Mother’s Day Gifts that Will Last Longer Than a Bouquet of Flowers’. Is it really necessary to criticize flowers in order to sell other products? Flowers bring smiles to those receiving and giving flowers and impact our lives in healthy and happy ways. Let’s keep the smiles and happiness provided by giving Mothers and Grandmothers flowers while enjoying great meals from your recipes. I hope you will modify or remove this article until flowers can be included as a valuable part of our daily lives and Mother’s Day.”
SAF also reached out to Snowe, a home essentials retailer. The company advertised in the New York Times, “This Mother’s Day, skip the flowers.”
Spot a harmful mention of flowers? Forward it to Scala at jscala@safnow.org.
Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.
