A growing number of companies are reportedly inviting customers to opt-out of receiving Mother’s Day email ads, in the name of sensitivity and “inclusivity.”
On Sunday, a Twitter thread by @AZInformer, an account with slightly more than five thousand followers, reported the news, which quickly attracted more than a million views:
“Something very strange is happening with Big Corporations. Out of nowhere, @kroger owned @FrysFoodStores, @KayJewelers, @Hallmark, and now @DoorDash have all sent "Opt out of #MothersDay" emails to their customer base. This is not organic. This reeks of anti-family activists.”
Companies listed include:
- Levis,
- Ancestry,
- MAC cosmetics,
- Stitch Fix,
- BuyBuyBaby,
- Etsy,
- Cartier,
- Kroger,
- Frys Food Stores,
- Kay Jewelers,
- Hallmark,
- Door Dash, and
- Nestle's Nespresso.
The nearly-identical language used by the companies, such as labeling Mother’s Day “a difficult time,” prompted some critics to suspect a coordinated effort by woke liberals to “cancel” the holiday in order to advance their gender-fluid ideology.
Others wondered if companies will now invite customers to opt-out of other types of email ads they find difficult to view.
Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk tweeted a question to his 2.1 million followers:
“Brands are bending over backwards to let customers to ‘opt out’ of Mother's Day. Can we opt out of Pride Month spam too?”
Despite the recent media attention, advertising to customers that they can opt-out of Mother’s Day advertising isn’t exactly new. For example, Hustler Marketing magazine recommended the practice in 2021 and PRNEWS followed suit in 2022.
The anti-Mother’s Day marketing campaign has not hurt Mother’s Day, however.
Research by the National Retail Federation shows that, since 2009, the percentage of adults celebrating the holiday has held steady at around 84%, while the average expenditure on Mother’s Day has more than doubled.