Holidays like Mother’s Day are supposed to be special. It’s a day to celebrate mothers and everything that they’ve done for you and all the sacrifices they’ve made to keep you happy and safe. It’s a joyous day brimming with excitement, love, and gratitude.
However, for some, it’s quite the contrary. For those who have lost their parent(s), the holiday serves as a painful reminder of their parent(s) who no longer exist (or no longer share a relationship with them) and the memories they’ve held onto. For some couples confronting fertility issues, the constant flooding of advertisements and promotions leading to Mother’s Day can be downright depressing and damaging to mental health.
The past year has been tough, more so on people who have lost their family members and when constant advertisements and promotions of Mother’s Day are pushed into their face – this deepens the grief of people who have lost their parent(s).
Some brands are trying to change this. Throughout April, appreciation was expressed via social media and reacted to something unusual: emails from businesses that permit users to opt out of messages linked to the coming vacation.
Brands like Etsy released the following announcement to let users know that they understand what their users are going through:
“We understand that Mother’s Day can be a difficult time for some; if you’d rather not receive emails from us about Mother’s Day this year, let us know by removing yourself below. We’ll still keep you in the loop about one-of-a-kind finds we think you’ll love, just without the Mother’s Day messages.” Etsy’s spokesperson further added, “after such a heavy year, the team agreed that this Mother’s Day felt especially emotional.” It also plans to offer opt-outs for Father’s Day campaigns in its core markets, which include the U.S., U.K., Canada and France.
Etsy isn’t the only brand that’s asking their members to opt out of emails, other brands like Pandora, Away, dessert chain Milk Bar, UnCommon Goods, Kitsch, Parachute are also encouraging their users to opt out from these particular emails lest it triggers them.
Jennifer Glass, the director of digital marketing at Pandora North America, said the jewelry company had learned a lot over the last 12 months about “how to be sensitive to our customers and what they’re going through as well as how to better show support.”
Away’s spokesperson shared that after testing the opt-out option for both holidays in the U.S. and Canada for the first time this year, the company which is HQed in Melbourne, has already received several personal stories and messages of thanks from appreciative customers.
More than 4,000 subscribers chose to opt out of Mothers’ Day and/or Father’s Day emails, and the company received more than 250 messages of “customer love,” according to Selena Kalvaria, Away’s chief marketing officer.
Sorrow and grief are personal, and everyone has different ways to memorialize the familial holidays. They should be able to spend the day however they deem fit, whether it be opting out of emails pertaining to filial holidays or embracing it.
Brands recognizing the emotions that their customer’s go through is a sign of acknowledgement and proof that they’re being more responsive and sensitive to their customers’ needs.
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