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.”
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.
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