By Tim Binnall
A chain of funeral homes in England is under fire for what some contend was a rather macabre marketing scheme in the form of Valentine's Day cards that the company sent to a nursing home. The misguided, at best, gesture reportedly came to light on Wednesday when the Whitegates Care Centre in the community of Laleham received the lavish-looking holiday missives in the mail. However, many of the residents were understandably put off when they opened the cards and read that they were "sent with love" from the local branch of the funeral chain T.H. Sanders & Sons.
As one might imagine, relatives of the nursing home residents were aghast to hear of the incident with one man declaring that "it's appalling for a funeral director to be trying to attract new customers by targeting vulnerable elderly people." Indicating that he now plans to take his mother out of the nursing home, the man mused that "luckily, we managed to hide it away before mum could see it as it would have been devastating." His outrage was echoed by the charitable foundation Centre for Aging Better, which called the cards "an utterly appalling stunt."
Meanwhile, the nursing home tried to assure residents and their relatives that the cards were simply a case of an area business trying to brighten their loved ones' holiday. "We're deeply embedded within the local community," they said, "and we value the support and engagement of all our neighbors, including T.H. Sanders." For their part, the funeral home chain seemingly recognized how the cards could easily be misconstrued and issued a statement saying that they "deeply regret any unintended distress."