New Delhi: Father’s Day is knocking at the door! Like many companies, wearable tech giant Jawbone thought Father’s Day would be a good time to push its products to potential customers through the regular promotional emails. Little did they know that the initiative to woo potential customers, would actually turn upside down.
As part of its initiative, the company sent out an email to thousands of recipients with the subject line: "Re: Your Dad". The subject was intended to be attention-grabbing and was a way to promote its products as Father's Day gifts.
However, the seemingly harmless message soon upset people and drew criticism from thousands of the email recipients on social media.
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Many said it was a panic attack, many posted on Twitter and elsewhere about their anger, many said it was an insensitive emails. The company initially struggled to understand where it had gone wrong, but got a clear picture once the messages started pouring in.
As it turns out, many of the recipients were those whose fathers had either passed away or were worried about them.
This issue was reported by BBC. Maisie McCabe, acting UK editor of Campaign told media, "In this case, Jawbone should have considered how people whose fathers have died or are estranged from them might view such a subject line.”
Experts also pointed out that email inboxes are intimate places, and email marketers should be careful when they step into them.
A marketing student, whose father died five years ago, said that the email was a panic attack for her. She said, “I immediately thought: What about him? Who in the world would send me an email about my dad? I got a little scared even.”
“Ever since my dad has passed, I’ve been dealing with a lot, which includes depression, anxiety, therapy, you name it. Only for the past couple of months I’ve been feeling better, and this email just crushed me.”
Here are some of the Twitter reactions about the failed marketing strategy:
