SAF Wednesday E-Brief - 05/07/2008 (Plain Text Version)
In this issue:
HEADLINES
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SAF Responds to More Negative Advertising
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1-800-Flowers Acquires Gift Basket Company
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Houston Design School Caters to Spanish-Speakers
NEWSMAKERS
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Jay Leno, Ladies' Home Journal Talk Flowers
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Philadelphia Florist Gets TV Time
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Test Order Time for Mother's Day Flowers
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Longtime Journalist Is Celebrated With Flowers
BUSINESS BUILDERS
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Florist Presents St. Louis's Top Mom
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New Online Wedding Community to Come
TRENDWATCH
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Men Fork It Out for Wives
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Teen Boys Like Romance
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
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On the Horizon
REGULAR FEATURES
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E-Brief Top Five
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Product Spotlight: Radio Scripts and Print-Ready Advertising
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Pre-booking of Fresh Product and Hardgoods Remain Relatively the Same
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Survey Says: APW Week Sales Results
SAF Responds to More Negative Advertising
With the countdown to Mother's Day in full gear, several companies are disparaging flowers to try and promote their own products. SAF has sent letters to De Beers, Philips Electronics, Angie's List, Hilton Hotels Corporation, ButterflyPhoto.com, Reveal MedSpa, CarePages and Shoe Carnival asking that they promote their products on their own merits and remove any negative remarks about flowers from their respective advertising campaigns.
• A print ad by De Beers diamonds declares, "You'll never hear her say, 'The older my flowers get, the more I love them.'" SAF received an e-mail, in response to its letter, from Marketing Diamond Promotion Service/JWT, the marketing company De Beers uses for its promotions. Cristina Lilly, vice president, writes that there was no direct intent to disparage the floral industry through the advertising campaign. "Diamond consumers love flowers and think they are a beautiful and romantic gift," Lilly writes. "In fact, like the diamond, flowers are often used to symbolize love and express emotion, so in many ways our two industries are alike." Although she does offer an apology "for any misunderstanding caused in this area to you or any member of your trade," there is no indication that the negative remarks will be removed from the advertisement.
• Philips Electronics is busy promoting its cordless telephones, sonicare toothbrushes and digital photoframes by proclaiming, "Flowers are so yesterday" in a recent e-mail. After receiving a letter from SAF asking the company to promote a product "on its own merits rather than disparaging another," Philips did send an e-mail response. "Thanks for the notification. We'll look into the ad," states Terry Fassburg, vice president, corporate communications for Philips.
• An e-mail titled "Forgo the flowers" was sent out by Angie's List, an online resource of home improvement contractors, promoting the company's gift certificates by saying "you'll get brownie points for not going the typical flowers and chocolate route!" In an e-mail response to SAF, Cheryl Knevels of Angie's List apologizes for any offense the promotion may have caused. "I hope you will accept our apologies, and understand that we did not mean to offend any of our members, nor did we intend to disparage the business of floristry in the least," Knevels writes. She states that she will pass along SAF's comments to their Marketing Team, which is responsible for constructing the e-mail promotions.
• Hilton Hotels Corporation continues to rely on a campaign featuring "Catch Me At My Best" comment cards. These cards read, "Skip the Flowers. Say It with Words." SAF contacted the hotel chain in 2006 and 2007 regarding this campaign. Despite Hilton Hotels Corporation originally agreeing in 2006 to remove the cards from its 2007 promotion, these cards remain in use.
• ButterflyPhoto.com sent out an e-mail stating "Forget Flowers & Candy, Get Mom What She Really Wants." The online consumer electronics retailer is trying to convince customers that what moms really want are digital cameras or flat screen televisions.
• Reveal MedSpa, with locations in the Washington, D.C. metro area, has a radio commercial saying flowers won't last.
• A newsletter article called "Nurture the nurturer: 10 ideas to treat Mom like a queen," appeared in the May 1 issue of CarePages. The article included the line: "Don't settle for the card-and-flowers formula this year."
• Shoe Carnival's advertising says: "Forget the flowers. Give mom something she really wants."
In a follow-up to The Melting Pot story that has appeared in the past two editions of E-Brief, Ron Rose of Rose of Sharon Florist in Santa Maria, Calif., has sent the PR agency representing the national fondue restaurant chain an e-mail expressing gratitude for the company's apology for its recent negative flower remarks. "I am so pleased that my experience contacting The Melting Pot and expressing my concerns about their recent press release went so well," Rose writes. Rose also says that he has posted a positive recommendation of The Melting Pot on his blog.
Alert SAF to negative floral references by faxing (703) 836-8705, e-mailing jstromann@safnow.org or calling (800) 336-4743.
--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org