ALEXANDRIA, VA – Valentine’s Day flower-bashing by makers of competing gift
products is already underway. SAF responded to three this week:
M&M/Mars. They may promise to keep your hands clean, but M&Ms is taking a
swipe at flowers this Valentine’s Day. A TV commercial for the chocolate candies
asks, Can I send [M&Ms] instead of flowers? And the site’s custom-print Web
site shows pink and red roses alongside pink and red M&Ms with the headline,
“Forget Roses.” In a letter faxed the global chief marketing officer of Mars,
Inc., the parent company, SAF noted that consumers choose M&M’s for many
positive reasons. Therefore making references to flowers to make your products
look good seems unnecessary.
Terre Haute Living. SAF responded to an article in the January/February
issue of the Indiana magazine. The article Roses are red, Violets are blue:
Really is that the best you can do? makes disparaging statements about the
price and freshness of Valentine’s Day roses. In the letter to the magazine’s
editors, SAF stated: While rose quality can vary due to so many outlets selling
flowers for the holiday, your best bet is a local professional florist. Handling
flowers is their business all year long, and they are educated in proper care
and handling techniques and temperature management the key to flower freshness
and longevity.
Danbury Mint. The repeat offender’s Valentine’s Day jewelry catalog contains
statements such as: This Valentine’s Day, don’t settle for roses More
precious than a dozen roses … Roses fade quickly SAF faxed, e-mailed and
mailed a letter to the company’s president, Peter Maglathlin, to request that
the company promote its products on their own merits. SAF has contacted Danbury
Mint each year since 2005, and each year the Norwalk, Conn.-based company fails
to respond. “Although the negative floral references continue to go unanswered,
it’s important to let the company know that the floral industry is paying close
attention and not giving up,” says Jenny Scala, SAF director of consumer
marketing. “One day, we’ll get through to the Danbury Mint.”
SAF is the voice of the industry in instances of harmful floral publicity. To
report negative floral publicity, contact Jenny Scala at jscala@safnow.org (800)
336-4743 (800) 336-4743 or by fax at (703) 836-8705. For information, visit
SAF’s Negative Publicity Response Web page at
www.safnow.org/negativepublicity.
Source:
Society of American Florists
