Ikea, the low-price home furnishing retailer, yesterday canceled an e-mail postcard campaign after complaints from consumers that the promotion was too spam-like.
The program, which began a week ago, offered shoppers $75 discounts if they sent 10 friends an online postcard announcing the opening of Ikea’s new location in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program generated about 37,000 e-mails, according to reports.
Ikea, Plymouth Meeting, PA, also suffered a privacy breach when the company learned recipients of the postcards could change the number in their URL to tap into other postcards and get e-mail addresses of other recipients.
The company said it resolved the problem in about a half-hour after it was reported, but after receiving complaints from angry postcard recipients the company decided to scrap the promotion altogether.
