Prose you can Use to End “In Lieu of Flowers” at Your Local Newspaper

Reading the Sunday paper instantly ceased being a relaxing endeavor for floral designer Julia Miller this past week when she counted eight “in lieu of flowers” phrases in the obituary and funeral section of her local paper in Tacoma, Wash.

The owner of Julie’s Flowers who’d written for the News Tribune’s Reader’s Columnist section, went to the top of the masthead, sending an e-mail to the publisher, in which she wrote:

“You may be completely unaware that this phrase can and does financially hurt the local mom and pop flower shops.  Florists provide much comfort to the bereaved, through visual, sentimental and fragrant beauty. Can you visualize the Michael Jackson & Princess Diana funerals with no flowers?

Small flower shops are struggling to survive. Your newspaper would gladly accept advertising revenue from florists with one hand, but with the other tell people not to buy funeral flowers. Is the amount of money you receive for those four unnecessary words, ‘in lieu of flowers,’ in your obituary notices crucial to your bottom line?”

She encouraged the publisher to ask the sales team to end the practice. The publisher deferred the matter to the advertising director who responded immediately:

“Thanks for your active involvement … and your recommendation. It is certainly not our intention to harm the local business environment.

As you know, folks who have recently lost a loved one are going through a great deal of stress and activity making arrangements. They often seek guidance and help from others. We've instructed our associates to suggest changing that phrase and we'll be working both with individuals and the local funeral providers who place those obituaries … the next few weeks to eliminate that phrasing.”

Try this:

• That speedy response elicited a thank you from Miller and serves as reminder to all florists about the power of reaching out instead of just throwing your hands up. Take advantage of SAF’s tools that make it easy to reach out to funeral directors.