As the voice of the industry, SAF contacts companies — such as LOFT and Costa — that include negative references to flowers in promotions and asks them to reconsider their approach.
With Mother’s Day fast approaching, Ancestry.com and other companies continue to disparage flowers and floral gifts. The Society of American Florists is contacting them to bring attention to the negativity and ask them to reconsider their approach.
Ancestry.com, the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, sent an email with the subject line: “Forget the flowers, connect Mom to her roots – 25% off Ancestry.” Drew Stark in the company’s executive office responded to SAF: “Your feedback is being shared internally as you have requested for further review and consideration.”
Applebee‘s Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurant chain sent an email promoting its gift cards with the subject line: “Mother’s Day flowers? Again?” The company’s senior manager of communications answered SAF: “Applebee’s certainly intended no harm to the floral industry with this email, and we will consider your comments when developing marketing efforts in the future.”
Other companies contacted by SAF for negativity include:
- Costa, a manufacturer of polarized sunglasses, promotes its products on its website and social media with “Forget the Flowers. Catch Mom something she really wants.”
- JURA Inc., a manufacturer of automatic coffee machines, sent an email with the subject line: “Forget ???? Flowers! SAVE 55% on Mother’s Day gifts. ????”
- In-store signage at women’s apparel retailer LOFT reads, “Why buy flowers when you can wear them instead?”
- Bakery franchise Nothing Bundt Cakes boasts on its website and promotional mailer that its cakes have “More Power Than Flowers.”
Also during the lead-up to holidays, news outlets sometimes include negative statements about flowers in stories offering gifts recommendations. SAF responds to those cases of harmful publicity, too.
The Time magazine article, “15 Gift Ideas Your Mom Will Love This Mother’s Day” mentions: “You can get your mother flowers or a ‘world’s best mom’ coffee mug on Mother’s Day, but let’s be honest — you can do better.” SAF asked Time to refrain from making unnecessary references to flowers and gave an overview of why flowers are a popular gift for Mother’s Day, pointing to the research on the emotional health benefits of floral gifts and the investment of memories they create, as well as touting that “flowers come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and local florists can truly create something custom designed for mom.”
As reported in the May 3 and April 26 E-brief newsletters, SAF has responded to Coach, HuffPost, Mephisto, One Day University, and Target for including negative floral references in their Mother’s Day promotions.
Please forward negative portrayals of flowers to SAF’s Jenny Scala at jscala@safnow.org.
