Ever worry sympathy flowers are out of fashion with younger consumers? Maybe not for mobile devices.
When Kim Kardashian West’s 2011 Blackberry Bold recently died, she took to social media to express deep sorrow about the loss.
“I’m getting sad,” lamented the reality star, who previously called the device, which has a physical keyboard that more recent models lack, “my heart and soul.”
Lucky for West, one of her famous pals, the model Chrissy Teigen, responded with a heart-shaped sympathy floral design and tongue-in-cheek message:
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Teigen wrote. “I know how much you loved your BB. You were both very lucky to have each other, and you will always have the memories.”
West shared a photo of the flowers with her tens of millions of followers on Twitter, SnapChat and Instagram. (The story was then picked up by traditional entertainment outlets including E!, People and Us Weekly.)
That story, which could make for a lighthearted post on florists’ social networks (acknowledging that “the real thing” is even better), isn’t the only instance of recent pop culture love for the floral industry. Flowers also found a prominent position in a recent J Crew online and email promotion for a new floral “button-up” shirt from Liberty Art Fabrics.
In those promotions, the company shows Lisa Przystup, founder of James’s Daughter Flowers, wearing the shirt around her Greenpoint, Brooklyn neighborhood.
“I’m always sneaking carnations into my arrangements, so I loved that Liberty snuck some into this pretty print,” says Przystup in the promo. “It’s also crazy comfortable — a major bonus when you’re lugging massive bundles of flowers around.” (Further validation of Gen Y’s appreciation for the sometimes scorned flower. The carnation love will feel extra good to industry members who remember other high profile instances of carnation scorn in pop culture, including a put-down on the HBO series “Sex and the City.”)
Curious about how that collaboration came about? So were we! Unfortunately, at press time, E-Brief editors had reached out to but not heard back from Przystup, who on Instagram describes herself as a “writer and sometimes florist.”