The overuse of "In lieu of flowers" in obituaries made local news recently in a Texas newspaper.

The Beaumont Enterprise in Beaumont, Texas, featured an article on July 2 in its local section called "'In lieu of flowers' trend makes floral business wilt." The article profiled industry members, including designers at Forever Yours Flower Shop in Beaumont who were working on several funeral arrangements. While the piece states that "the growing trend [of using the phrase] hasn't had a profound impact on flower shop businesses locally," it points out the concern local florists have about the increasing use of the phrase.

"Sometimes, it does hurt business, but it's what the family wants," Walter McCloney, owner of McCloney's Florist in Beaumont, explained in the article.

Clay Atchison, owner of McAdams Floral in Victoria, Texas, and a member of the Texas State Florists' Association's Technology Committee, has taken a proactive approach by creating a Web site to address the issue. The site, www.inlieuofflowers.info, offers consumers information on the history of sympathy flowers and alternative phrases such as: "Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice," and "Remembrances may be made in the form desired by friends."

"When you go to a service and there are only one or two flower arrangements or no flower arrangements at all, it feels a little barren," Atchison told the paper. "Flowers create a background of warmth and beauty."

The article also mentions a form letter, created by the Allied Florists of Houston, that gives florists a starting point to reach out to local funeral directors. 

SAF continues to address the "in lieu of flowers" issue. Building on last year's public relations outreach to funeral trade publications, SAF launched an advertising campaign in the National Funeral Directors Association's magazine, The Director. SAF's full-page color advertorial ran in the magazine's May issue and will appear again in the August and November issues. The publication can reach as many as 13,500 funeral service professionals each month.

"As great as this ad is in creating top-of-mind awareness among funeral directors nationwide, success at the local level comes when florists supplement the ad with personal outreach," says Jennifer Sparks, SAF's vice president of marketing.

Send a copy of SAF's ad with a letter to funeral directors who use the "in lieu of" phrase. Just log onto safnow.org/sympathy and click "Suggested letters to local funeral directors." Then click "Letter to Complement SAF's Advertisement in The Director" for the letter and ad. Send the letter and ad to funeral directors in August or November 2008 when the ad is running. For a library of sympathy marketing tools, check out SAF's Web site.

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

 

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