Why Knock Mother’s Day Flowers?

I wasn’t much of a Mother’s Day flower-giver. At age 5, I pulled all of the bulbs in my mother’s garden and presented them to her. It didn’t go well. Even so, I have always believed in Mother’s Day flowers and wonder why some competing retailers seem to be so against them. SAF shares this concern.

The Society of American Florists (SAF) has been confronting advertisers for several years now, challenging those who say at Mother’s Day, basically, “Flowers are dumb. Buy mom ____ instead.”

They say they tracked 10 instances this year, 14 last year, 8 in 2013, 10 in 2012 and 16 in 2011. So, not a huge number, but some are very high-profile, far-reaching ads. Current and past Mother’s Day offenders include:

• Amazon: “Flowers don’t last — Kindle does.”
• Beauty Brands: “Forget the Flowers.”
• Capital Area Food Bank: “Food over flowers … Flowers fade and die away.”
• FitBit: Ad shows flowers transformed into a FitBit that, apparently, is more awesome.
• LongHorn Steakhouse: “Flowers are overrated.”
• Forbes Magazine: “Ditch the Flowers and Chocolates.”

Anyway, SAF’s position is simply this: at Mother’s Day, promote the merits of your product without dragging down flowers. Sounds reasonable, yes?

As a floral professional, you have obviously noted this trend. Do these Mother’s Day ads anger you, or is it just good, clean, capitalistic fun? Let us know in the comments section, and have a great weekend!