HexClad, a high-end cookware brand promoted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, ran a Mother’s Day message on social media and its website in 2025 that read: “Flowers die. HexClad is forever. Skip the sad bouquet. Get Mom what she really wants: cookware that comes with a lifetime warranty.”
After a member flagged the campaign, the Society of American Florists reached out to the company as part of its effort to address advertising that positions flowers in a negative light during one of the floral industry’s most important holidays.
HexClad was one of six companies SAF contacted last year before Mother’s Day in response to marketing campaigns or news coverage that cast flowers in a negative light.
As the industry’s watchdog, SAF reaches out to offending companies and media, asking them to reconsider messaging that diminishes flowers and instead promote their products on their own merits. The organization is also asking members to flag problematic campaigns.
“Ads that disparage flowers and articles that misrepresent the floral industry are harmful and unfounded,” says SAF’s Director of Marketing Elizabeth Daly. (Negative ads or news stories can be emailed to Daly at edaly@safnow.org.)
Daly says florists, growers and other industry members can reinforce SAF’s outreach by contacting advertisers or media outlets directly — but with a measured tone.
“In your response, be objective, diplomatic and reasonable,” she says. “Describe why you find the article or advertisement offensive or unfair. Urge the media outlet or advertiser to refrain from disparaging flowers and urge them to promote products based on their own merits.”
In published news or magazine articles, Daly advises against demanding full retractions. Instead, focus on identifying factual inaccuracies or misrepresentations and offering clear, correct information. Ask that the information be corrected either in print or online.
SAF provides additional guidance through its Counteracting Negative Publicity resource center, equipping members with tools to respond constructively when messaging crosses the line.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists.
