Rush Limbaugh & 1-800-FLOWERS & ProFlowers

Dittos, Rush...

Did you look into these folks?

If you had done so, you would have learned that 44% of a 1-800 FLOWERS order goes to FEES and COMMISSIONS. Please see the preceding blog for details.

And you would have learned that Proflowers products are shipped in non-climate-controlled vehicles so they often arrive "cooked" or frozen. See this humorous video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNYGZHPKQgs

These are examples. Yahoo! Shopping ranks 1-800-FLOWERS at 1 1/2 stars (out of 5) Google has them at 2 1/2 stars. Proflowers does better at 3 1/2 stars -- about average for the web.

Why do I care?

In 1988 (sound familiar?) my wife and I launched our Charlotte, NC, flower shop, The Flower Hut. But NATIONAL marketeers -- like 1-800-FLOWERS, FTD and Teleflora -- have captured large segments of the local flower market using techniques that are at best unethical and at worst are illegal : http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/Bills...ML/S514v5.html

The result is that the number of flower shops in NC -- small businesses all -- has declined from 800 to 600 in the last 10 years.

I'm sure you have an advertising contract that you cannot break. But please, Rush, look MUCH closer into the businesses you endorse. Your listeners deserve it!

After all, do you REALLY want to promote companies whose users rate them as AVERAGE or WAY BELOW AVERAGE?

I don't think so, or you would have named your network MIB: Mediocrity In Broadcasting!