Wowcher apologises for 'unacceptable' croc attack email
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- Wowcher sent a marketing email on Saturday with the subject line "Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!" — two days after a toddler was attacked by at least one crocodile at Johnsons of Old Hurst zoo near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
- The three-year-old boy was pulled from the crocodile enclosure by zoo staff during a family trip on Thursday and remains in critical but stable condition at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
- A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and subsequently bailed because he was "unfit for interview"; police said the boy, who was not known to the man, suffered serious injuries "while in the enclosure."
- Wowcher said the email "should never have been written, it was never approved for use," accepted full responsibility, and announced an urgent review of all scheduled marketing content plus its creative, approval and sign-off safeguards.
- Customers on social media reacted with fury to screenshots of the email, with one saying they had "now unsubscribed" and another calling the message "disgusting," adding: "If that's real someone needs to be fired."
Why it matters: Wowcher is reviewing all scheduled marketing content and its creative sign-off safeguards after a subject line referencing a real child being attacked by a crocodile triggered public outrage and customer defections. The firm acknowledged the 'hurt and distress' to the critically injured toddler's family during what it called an 'unimaginably difficult time,' exposing how marketing workflows can inflict reputational and emotional damage in a single send.
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