Counteracting Negative Publicity
Negative or misleading publicity or references regarding flowers and florists can be found in advertising from gift competitors or stories in the media. A company may say: “Don’t buy flowers that wilt and die, buy (product).” Or, a news story may encourage consumers to purchase a product rather than flowers. SAF is the voice of the industry, and we respond to bring the industry’s concerns to the offender’s attention.
> Latest news on SAF’s negative floral publicity response efforts.
Report Harmful Publicity to SAF
Email us at info@safnow.org or call (703) 836-8700
Advice for Responding to Harmful Publicity
As much as SAF can provide support on a national level, local business can also make a difference. If you wish to respond please remember two things that enhance your credibility:
- Your affiliation with the Society of American Florists (SAF), the national association representing the floral industry
- Your identity as a local business.
Here are tips to help write an effective response:
- Be objective, diplomatic and reasonable. Describe why you find the story/advertisement offensive or unfair. Explain that you believe in the effectiveness of stories/advertisements that promote products based on their own merits.
- Don’t sound defensive. That will only make it seem as though the “attack” on flowers was justified.
- Don’t make unreasonable demands. Unless a story actually contains a factual error, don’t demand that it be retracted.
- Suggest a middle ground approach that the story/advertisement could take in the future. You might point out that instead of the phrase, “Don’t buy flowers,” the message could be, “Flowers are one of many gift choices during…”
While you won’t always get an immediate response from the advertiser in question, the objective is to get them to reconsider the negative approach in future campaigns.
