Wednesday, April 29, 2009

This Mother's Day, skip 1-800-FLOWERS

Before it's too late, I wanted to share an email I got from a 1-800-flowers rep. It started like that (and I'll spare you the rest):

Hi, my name is Allison Blass and I wanted to drop you a note about something I’m working on for 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. They recently launched a new movement for Mother’s Day called Spot a Mom. The Spot A Mom movement celebrates all the unique types of Moms in the world.

Now, as long as we're talking about 1-800-flowers, let me just say that I will never buy anything from them, and I don't recommend anyone else does.

Last year they had a different Mother' Day campaign, which also included all the unique types of Moms in the world, one of which was this guy in the middle:


And if you hovered over that picture with your mouse, you'd have gotten this:


So good for them for not including the fabulous fella in this year's collection of mothers, but they still haven't replied to the email I sent them last year, which means they haven't apologized yet to fathers who don't necessarily see themselves as fabulous or as "moms."

So Ms. Blass, thank you for your email, but I'm going to pass this year and the next. There are plenty of local flower stores that don't portray me as a stereotype of a fabulous fella called "Mr. Mom."
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9 comments:

  1. Well, I should've been outraged and sad, but I'm too busy laughing. Why are these companies so clueless?

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  2. flowers should be sent anytime of the year and to whomever is deserving!

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  3. Idaho Dad, personally, as a "Mom," that's my usual day. I play catch with my kid, then I change his diaper, then I mow the lawn, mop the floor, cook, and watch the game. Then I kill myself.

    Stacie, I'm with you. I even brought flowers home a few weeks ago. But that doesn't mean I can just ignore certain days. My wife sometimes says she doesn't care about stuff like that, but after all these years I know better.

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  4. Dear OM,

    You have allowed yourself to be offended by a national advertising campaign that was designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Sack up.

    PS The ad being served by Google on your page right now is for 1-800-Flowers.

    Bummer man, they pay your bills.

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  5. It's not so much offended. I have a cute baby, so it'll take more than that to offend me. I was trying to show the ignorance of a company that actually tries to go above the common denominator by including stay-at-home dads in Mother's Day celebrations.

    Now, the ad I see is for ProFlowers. But I'll take 1-800-Flowers off the Google Ads just in case.

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  6. Hey there,

    I just wanted to say thanks for the comment on my blog the other day--I really appreciated it. Oh, also, you need to check out dad-blogs.com. Peace

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  7. Hmm. As we've become two daddies only two weeks ago, the subject of Mother's Day has been nagging me a bit lately. I certainly don't like the way they portray the dad in the ad though. It's not like there are two complete idiots raising our baby. Idiotic moments, I'm sure, but we're just as good as any Mom.

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  8. Joeprah, it's a cool site. Thanks. I'll spend some time there later.

    Bobby, congratulations, first of all. And you're telling me not all dads wear a baker's hat and get flour on their cheeks? You're saying that some fathers make 2-3 meals a day for years, and for them not every meal is an opportunity for a paint-your-cheek-white game? I don't believe that!

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  9. I love mothers day as it gives guy like me to say thanks to my mom for everything she did or doing for us even though we never appreciated her generosity,kindness & warmth towards her children.this is the day we can show our appreciation for everything she has done for us.

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