Earlier this week, Rick Canale of Exotic Flowers debuted special “Trump” and “Hillary” themed bouquets.
Delegates (and protestors) may have cleared out of both Cleveland and Philadelphia, but one resourceful florist in Boston still is capitalizing on the excitement generated by the presidential election — and on customers’ desire to show their allegiance to a candidate, or nudge a loved one in their direction.
Earlier this week, Rick Canale of Exotic Flowers debuted special “Trump” and “Hillary” themed bouquets. Each design is $64.95 and includes a sticker with the candidate’s logo. (The designs are decidedly nonpartisan with a combo of red, white and blue lilies, roses and hydrangeas.)
“Trump? Hillary? Can’t decide? We understand,” reads a blog post by Canale, promoting the new offerings. “This is hard. Maybe beautiful flowers can sway you.”
This is the first time Canale has tried selling designs inspired by presidential candidates, but it’s not the first time he’s mixed politics and business.
“Twelve years ago, we sold presidential merchandise and again in 2008,” he said, adding that in those instances, sales were “a great predictor, as the winner generally outsells the loser 2 to 1.” (Wringing your hands over who will come out on top in 2016? Sorry. Canale says it’s too early to say which floral design will be the better seller this year.)
For now, the shop is not offering designs for third-party candidates Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, but that could change.
Exotic Flowers has a history of creating popular themed designs. This month, the shop also unveiled a “Lightspeed Bouquet,” inspired by Star Wars and also priced at $64.95.
For Canale, the special items serve several purposes. In addition to generating sales, they also get customers talking about what the shop can do beyond traditional floral designs and put the staff’s sense of fun and personality on full display. (The blog post promoting the “Lightspeed” design begins with a confession that many members of the Exotic team are devoted to the series.) Themed designs such as the Lightspeed Bouquet also present add-on potential galore, in the form of balloons, trading cards and other merchandise.
One tip from Canale if you plan to follow suit with candidate bouquets? Stay neutral in your verbiage — experts agree you risk alienating customers and employees if you get too partisan in the workplace, especially in a charged political year. Instead, promote ideas Democrats, Republicans and Independents can get behind. That’s what Canale did in his post promoting the designs, reminding customers, “No matter where your heart is, make sure you vote. Every vote counts.”
