Ulta Beauty apologizes for insensitive promotional email with reference to Kate Spade's suicide
Ulta Beauty sent out a promotional email to its customers on Sunday, May 1, promoting a luxury beauty brand's product, 'Kate Spade New York's Sparkle' fragrance. Ulta’s message to customers read, “Come hang with Kate Spade.” referring to the brand’s co-founder’s death from suicide.
The email also included a list of beauty products for sale. The company's reference to Kate Spade's suicide sparked outrage among internet users. One user wrote on Twitter while posting a snapshot of the promotion mail, “I cannot believe I got this email today. Is this some kind of sick joke? How insensitive and absolutely tone-deaf. Apparently, nobody in marketing at Ulta remembers how Kate Spade died. Disgusting.”
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Someone added “Ulta, you might need to speak to your marketing staff. I just got an email from you saying 'come hang with Kate Spade' The actual Kate Spade hung herself with a scarf. Do better.” “Sorry, I really doubt someone who writes up emails for Ulta was like ‘I know how kate spade killed herself and I'm gonna make a joke about it in a promotional email" like I know some people are that cruel but I think y'all just tend to believe the worst,” another quoted. “The Ulta/Kate Spade email is why it's important to have cultural relevant persons on your marketing teams. *cringes*” yet another person remarked.
I cannot believe I got this email today. Is this some kind of sick joke? How insensitive and absolutely tone deaf. Apparently nobody in marketing at Ulta remembers how Kate Spade died. Disgusting. @ultabeauty #suicideawareness #stopthestigma #katespade pic.twitter.com/L7jsqQcoWc
— Tracy Vinton (@tracy_vinton) May 2, 2022
@ultabeauty @katespade Ulta, you might need to speak to your marketing staff. I just got an email from you saying "come hang with Kate Spade." The actual Kate Spade hung herself with a scarf. Do better.
— Betsy Gray (@BetsyGray) May 1, 2022
sorry i really doubt someone who writes up emails for ulta was like "i know how kate spade killed herself and i'm gonna make a joke about it in a promotional email" like i know some people are that cruel but i think y'all just tend to believe the worst
— nat 💗💜💙 (@sevendotmp3) May 2, 2022
The Ulta/Kate Spade email is why it's important to have cultural relevant persons on your marketing teams. *cringes*
— Jasmine Gibson (@strategistjas) May 2, 2022
After receiving a lot of outrage from the fans online, Ulta Beauty, which is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, finally decided to send an apology email for their remark. They told The Post in a statement on Monday, May 2, “Ulta Beauty recently sent an email featuring Kate Spade New York fragrance with an insensitive subject line, and for this, we sincerely apologize. Mental health is a very serious, important issue in this country, and not something we would ever take lightly. We apologize to the Spade family, our Kate Spade New York brand partners, and to our guests. Thank you for understanding as we strive to do better.”
Kate Spade is a premium brand that was launched in the early 1990s by the designer Kate Spade and her husband, Andy Spade. The pair invested their own money in the launch of their stylish and colorful handbags, which have since become a wardrobe essential for many fashion enthusiasts. In 2018, the company's co-founder committed suicide by hanging herself, when she was just 55 at her Park Avenue apartment in New York City. Following the death of the co-founder, the beauty brand put out a statement that reads, “Kate Spade, the visionary founder of our brand, has passed. Our thoughts are with her family at this incredibly heartbroken time. We honor all beauty she brought into this world.”
