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RetailKATE SPADE

Beauty company forced to apologize for ‘insensitive’ Kate Spade email promotion after fan backlash

By
Jeannette Neumann
Jeannette Neumann
and
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
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By
Jeannette Neumann
Jeannette Neumann
and
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 3, 2022, 6:20 AM ET
Kate Spade, seen here with actors Stanley Tucci, and Oliver Platt, died in 2018.
Kate Spade, seen here with actors Stanley Tucci, and Oliver Platt, died in 2018.Carley Margolis—FilmMagic

Ulta Beauty Inc. Is apologizing for an “insensitive” email it sent to customers advertising a Kate Spade fragrance. 

The email’s subject line was “Come hang with Kate Spade and get $15 off,” which many read as a reference to the fashion designer, Kate Valentine Spade, and her death by suicide in 2018. The company sent a follow-up email apologizing to customers, the brand and the Spade family for the “upsetting mistake.”

Just received an apology email from Ulta Beauty after a very poorly worded subject line referencing Kate Spade #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/OOoL4YYgap

— Hema Mullur (@HemaMullur) May 2, 2022

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Ulta Beauty said the company apologized for the email with “an insensitive subject line” and said it was striving to do better. “Mental health is a very serious, important issue in this country, and not something we would ever take lightly,” the statement said. The email was intended to promote an online-only marketing campaign. 

Ulta apologized to fans on social media, too, who said the brand’s apology wasn’t enough to undo the damage of the first message. May is Mental Health Awareness month. 

Mental health is not something we take lightly. We’re working to make sure this does not happen again. We’re deeply sorry for our mistake and the insensitive nature of the email​.

— Ulta Beauty (@ultabeauty) May 2, 2022

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