Ahead of major floral holidays such as Mother’s Day, flowers are often in the crosshairs as businesses compete for consumer gift spending dollars. But when the Society of American Florists and its members step in to ask to companies to stop disparaging flowers, it can change the marketing narrative.

This week, SAF member and wholesaler Kevin Priest, AAF, of Cleveland Plant and Flower Company, reached out to Black Rifle Coffee Company after receiving an ad that stated, “skip the flowers and get mom …”. As a monthly subscriber to the coffee company and a fifth-generation floral business owner, Priest wrote to the company, sharing how disheartened he was by the ad. A Black Rifle representative replied:

“I truly apologize. BRCC’s intentions were not to bash or put down any fellow businesses. We here at BRCC have the utmost respect for each and every customer. Our promotion email was sent out to all of our customers should have been worded differently. I have brought this up to my supervisor to see if we can reach out to the supervisor of our Marketing Department and make sure that this does not happen again.”

As well as an apology, Black Rifle Coffee stated praise for the floral industry: “Flowers themselves have become an American tradition upheld each and every year…. shows love, compassion, and the overall beauty of life that I’m sure any member of BRCC would not want to be broken or to see diminished.”

Responses like this show that some companies are completely open to changing their tactics once they are made aware of the perspective of those in the floral industry, said SAF Marketing and Communications Manager Elizabeth Daly, who reaches out to companies that malign or misrepresent the floral industry.

“As the voice of the floral industry, we want to help set up floral businesses for success, especially during big floral holidays that generate so much revenue,” said Daly. “We make sure these companies know that casting flowers in a negative light for their own marketing agenda is not the best approach. Instead, we ask them to promote their products on their own merits — and we’re often successful in having them change their approach.”

Among the companies SAF contacted this week:

• Duluth Trading Co. sent a Mother’s Day marketing email that stated, “Flowers are nice, but function is better. This year, get Mom a bouquet of No-Yank Tanks in spring hues – starting at just $12 right now!
• Luxury candle company Voluspa is marketing candles for Mother’s Day, saying “better than a bouquet- choose a fragrance (or a few) from this collection of unique rose-inspired fragrances for a colorful display of affection.”
• Paired Tastings and Events in Saskatchewan, Canada, posted this ad on their Facebook page: “Tired of the same old flower deliveries? Send something different this Mother’s Day” to advertise their Mother’s Day gift baskets.

Spot a harmful ad or article about flowers? Forward it to edaly@safnow.org.

Elizabeth Daly is the marketing and communications manager for the Society of American Florists.