The Melting Pot stands firm on its recent use of negative remarks about flowers in a promotion, despite SAF efforts to dissuade the company.

The national restaurant chain, known for its fondue-filled menu offerings, distributed a press release on April 17 referring to flowers as "typical gifts" that stand as "cliché sentiments" on Mother's Day. Kendra Sartor, vice president of brand development for The Melting Pot, is quoted as saying: "Flowers just sit there and look nice. ... With as busy as families are today, we want to give moms the time and opportunity to slow down, talk with their families and just enjoy spending time together." The company cites SAF data that more than 35 percent of Americans purchased flowers for the holiday in 2007.

SAF sent a letter urging the Melting Pot to highlight the company's own merits in its promotions, rather than disparaging the floral industry. In an e-mail response, The Melting Pot's PR agency defended its approach.

"Our intention in the release was not to slam the flower industry, so I apologize if this was your interpretation. We merely used flowers as an example of a 'staple' associated with Mother's Day and just wanted to provide an alternative," writes Sandy D'Elosua, senior account executive for RFB Communications Group, Inc.

This is the first of what's bound to be several efforts by competing industries to promote their own products for Mother's Day by disparaging flowers, and SAF is prepared to tackle each one. Alert SAF to negative floral publicity by faxing (703) 836-8705, e-mailing jstromann@safnow.org or calling (800) 336-4743.

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

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