Women 'distressed' after receiving pregnancy congratulations cards when they aren't expecting a baby

The cards have started the call out on Twitter: Who is Jenny B?
Roya Shariat
Bonnie Christian30 October 2019

Women in the US have been left "distressed" after receiving unsolicited congratulations cards and gift vouchers when they were not expecting a baby.

Cards reading “Congratulations!!! I’m so excited for you! I hope you like these”, and signed by a woman named “Jenny B”, were sent to women across the country.

The notes and gift cards are from a company called Mothers Lounge, which sells mother and baby products online.

It is unclear how the cards were sent, but experts have put it down to a "questionable marketing scheme" on behalf of the company.

Many of the women have taken to social media calling the Utah-based firm “insensitive” and complaining that the cards had caused awkward conversations.

The front of the card reads: “Holy guacamole, you’re going to avo baby”.

Some of the women thought they had received the card by mistake, prompting the call out on Twitter: Who is Jenny B?

The cards were delivered to women in what appears to be a marketing ploy .
Roya Shariat

One woman posted a photo of the card and its contents, writing: “Anyone know a Jenny B with a pregnant friend named Rachel in Dallas? I got this by mistake.”

Another said she had received £233 worth of gift vouchers even though she wasn’t pregnant.

“Sooo I come home to a letter written out to me with my address and everything and it’s a pregnancy congratulatory card with $300 worth of gift cards. Plot twist. I’m not pregnant,” the woman wrote.

Another said: “Just received a card in the mail from Utah congratulating me on my pregnancy with over $300 dollars worth of gift cards..... 1) thank god my dad didn’t open it 2) I’m not pregnant 3) do I buy the pregnancy pillow anyways?”

One woman told the BBC the card caused “a lot of distress” for her and her mother.

"I got a call from my mother who asked me if there was something I wanted to tell her," she said. "She was really worried and it was scaring me."

The pair then had a video chat, and her mother asked her if she was pregnant.

She continued: "It was a really awkward situation and caused a lot of distress for the pair of us."

Another woman said the marketing tactic was insensitive.

“It's a funny anecdote for me, but for couples struggling with fertility issues, receiving one of these could have caused real trauma.

"So shame on you, Jenny B. of Utah. I hope you didn't pay for a marketing degree because you are truly terrible at it,” she said.

A US-based market trust organisation, the Better Business Bureau, has warned consumers to “be critical” of the mail.

The alert on their website reads: “These cards are not from a friend, but part of a questionable marketing scheme by Mother’s Lounge, LLC.

"According to the BBB’s alert, it had been notified of identical letters and gift cards that it warns are being sent out from a Utah-based company, Mothers Lounge LLC., owned by a woman named Jeanette Pierce, who is likely “Jenny B.”

It adds: “These gift cards are sent all over the U.S. and Canada in an envelope which appears to have lost its return label when it never had one in the first place.

“This is likely a marketing tactic meant to make the envelope look more like mail from a friend.”

The BBC reported the brand had used a third-party marketing company’s opt in list.

Mother's Lounge has been approached for comment.

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