Ulta apologizes for Kate Spade email some customers called insensitive

One customer asked if Ulta's email was a 'sick joke' given the nature of Kate Spade's death in 2018.

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Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Ulta apologizes for 'Come hang with Kate Spade' perfume email
Ulta Beauty apologized for its email that said "Come hang with Kate Spade," language some customers felt was insensitive given the designer's death.

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Ulta Beauty is apologizing and promising to do better after sending out a marketing email that said "Come hang with Kate Spade" as it promoted her brand's fragrance.

Spade died by suicide on June 5, 2018. She was found hanged in her Park Avenue apartment in New York City. The luxury designer was 55.

Given the nature of her death, some customers have called the marketing email, which was sent on Sunday, the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month, "insensitive and absolutely tone deaf."

"Apparently nobody in marketing at Ulta remembers how Kate Spade died. Disgusting," wrote one user on Twitter.

It was that comment that got the attention of Ulta, who responded in the replies, "We hear you and are deeply sorry. This was truly an insensitive error. It's an error we take full responsibility for. Simply put, this is below our standards, and we will do better."

The company also posted a statement to their Instagram stories, saying that "Mental health is a very serious, important issue in this country and not something we would ever take lightly. To the Spade family and to our Kate Spade brand partners, we're deeply sorry - and to our guests, we apologize for this upsetting mistake. Our teams are human, and this was truly an error."

Kate Spade launched in 1993 and has grown into a global brand that includes handbags, clothes, shoes, jewelry, home décor, tech accessories and more.