With less than a week to go before Mother's Day (don't worry, US friends, we celebrate a little earlier in the UK; you haven't missed it!), my inbox is chock-full of suggested gifts to recognise the occasion.
And for good reason—Mother's Day brings in over £1.5 billion in sales in the UK alone, and eager marketing departments are keen to grab their a slice of the action.
Here are two that stood out... for different reasons.
First up, a surprising contender for the Mother's Day crown
Wild... a natural-deodorant brand:
I'm not sure Wild have quite thought this one through. I can just about hear the reaction I'd get handing my Mam a deodorant for Mother's Day, and it would cost me a bottle of gin to make up for it.
This approach just comes across as lazy. "Just stick a flowery image and say something about making her feel special."
And I get it—it can be tough to come up with new email ideas and angles to promote your product (it's what people pay me to do, after all!), and recognising key dates through the year is Marketing 101, but you've got to try harder than this.
Now don't get me wrong, Wild is a great product (I use it), but it isn't a great gift unless you are 1000% confident it would be well received. Happy Mother's Day, Mum! FYI, you stink is not going to make her feel special.
It could have worked had they leaned into the inappropriate gift message, with a wry nod to it not going down well, but no.
They could have highlighted why Wild is a better choice than a regular deodorant—again, no. They showcase a few scents and a case that's covered in hearts 🙄.
I really think they should have sat this one out.
Next up is Interflora. With flowers being the go-to gift idea, Interflora are the first choice for many (I'm not including the petrol station last-minute purchasers, here!).
Interflora are almost on the money here. A great image that isn't cliche or saccharine-sweet and an emotive headline.
They've got the date and a decent call to action, but there are two things that don't quite hit home for me.
First, the 'late night phone call.'
Is that a thing? In my mind, the late night phone call is likely to be a friend, not your Mum. How many Mothers are up chatting to their darling daughter until the early hours? Not that many I'd imagine.
I may be wrong here, but what was at first glance, a strong emotional lead misses the mark a little—especially as there are tonnes of other angles they could have gone with. Free baby sitter. Source of advice and support. Always available for a lunch date etc.
But they may have some market research that suggests otherwise!
And secondly, the tiny "Mum will thank you" eyebrow copy above the image. This appears as preiew text in my inbox and, in my opinion, is a terrible choice.
What started off as a way to mam Sunday super special, has now become an exercise of self-interest and highlighting that I'll get thanks out giving flowers.
There are so many other lines that they could have used:
Show her she's loved, or With a spectacular floral tribute, or even their age-old slogan Say it with flowers would be much more in-keeping than this strangely self-congratulatory angle they chose.
Overall, it's not a bad email, just not perfect (and it's certainly preferable to Wild's!)
So there you have it—two Mother's Day emails with neither quite hitting the mark.