This week, several friends and family members were sharing on their Facebook statuses that Shutterfly, an online photo printing service, had told them they were pregnant with a congratulatory email, the funny thing was, they were not expecting. What was even funnier, men were receiving these congratulatory emails as well.
One of my Facebook friends told me he had at first ignored the email in his inbox until he saw the news that Shutterfly had in fact sent emails to hundreds of people congratulating them on their new arrivals.
This wrongly targeted email was intended for those who had just purchased birth announcements from Shutterfly, according to Today.com.
Several of my friends said they had received the original email congratulating them on having a baby and then said once Shutterfly realized their mistake, were sent an apology email.
One of my relatives told me she had only received the original congratulatory email and not the apology email. One friend of mine received the apology but didn’t send the actual congratulatory email they were apologizing about.
Shutterfly used Twitter to apologize for its email targeting mistake and replied to angry comments on their Facebook page.
This morning, an email was sent unintentionally to some customers. We deeply apologize for any offense this may have caused.
— Shutterfly (@Shutterfly) May 14, 2014
See what people had to say on Twitter about the congratulatory email they received from Shutterfly:
Special thanks to Shutterfly for reminding me of the importance of good data in marketing. http://t.co/3GzZz9U54h pic.twitter.com/qBf6rDrb9Q
— Sarah Eggers (@hidama) May 15, 2014
Hey Shutterfly, I know I’m single and 30, but the “Congrats on your new arrival” email really hurt my ovaries.
— Jenna Page Owens (@jennapage) May 14, 2014
Shutterfly sends email congratulating me on new baby. I have no recollection of this event. I hope I didn’t leave a baby at the hospital.
— Michele Catalano (@inthefade) May 14, 2014