In what some thought to be a generous effort to celebrate teachers and their hard work
during the pandemic, many fans are dragging Reese Witherspoon and her company Draper James
for their apparently misleading giveaway, and according to some teachers, its deceitful
marketing ploy.
What’s up guys, it’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News bringing you all the news
updates from my Clevver home studio, and rarely ever do we see an attempted act of kindness
backfire, but Draper James just hit the nail on the head!
Look, the thought was definitely there, but in an effort to put a smile on the faces of
struggling teachers in the U.S., Reese Witherspoon’s Southern-inspired clothing line Draper James,
found themselves being Draper-dragged through the mud.
We’re gonna get to the meat of the story in a second, but really quick, subscribe to
Clevver News and ring that bell so you never miss a breaking news update.
Alright, so we all know Reese as America’s Southern sweetheart, Beyonce’s ‘bestie’
and the most likely to never even harm a fly.
That said, it’s pretty shocking to hear that she’d receive so much backlash in an
effort to try and commend teachers for their hard work throughout the current world crisis.
This all started earlier this month when Draper James announced they’d be doing a dress
giveaway on Instagram to commend teachers for their hard work.
The post read QUOTE, “We want to say thank you!
During quarantine, we see you working harder than ever to educate our children.
To show our gratitude, Draper James would like to give teachers a free dress.”
Teachers were then directed to fill out a form by a deadline and that they’d be notified
via email if they won.
The directions also included an important note, adding that this offer was only valid
“while supplies last,” which doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary for a giveaway,
right?
But here’s where things got out of hand… the “supplies” only lasted minutes as
Draper James were only giving away 250 dresses, annnnd there are about 3 million public school
teachers across the U.S.
By the time the application closed, more than a million teachers had signed up for the giveaway,
and one thing that teachers DID teach us is if a million teachers signed up and only 250
won a dress, that means that 999,750 teachers were left upset and empty-handed.
You can see where the issue lies now, right?
But the mess doesn’t stop there… those who did sign up to win a dress, were also
subscribed to the Draper James mailing list, annnnd we all know how much of a virtual parasite
these lists can become.
The company then realized that they had disappointed hundreds of thousands of teachers, and attempted
to mend things by contacting them to make sure they knew it was a raffle.
Draper James also shared the number of dresses on its Instagram stories twice, but the giveaway
had been shared so many times, even on national television’s Good Morning America and the
Today Show, that teachers took to social media to express their frustration, and calling
this giveaway a terrible “marketing ploy”.
One teacher took to Twitter saying that out of 535 teachers in a Facebook group, ZERO
of them won, adding QUOTE, “What in the what??
All of us received codes for either 20-30% off codes.
Can’t even afford the dresses with a discount!
Great marketing ploy!"
Another teacher chimed in noting the costly amount of one of these dresses, writing, “Wow
@draperjames clearly doesn't know how much teachers make.
‘We love teachers!
Here's 30% off our ridiculously expensive dresses.’
If I'm spending over $100 on an ‘everyday dress,’ it better also grade essays.”
After one teacher tweeted that Reese didn’t give her a free dress, but she DID capture
her email address, another user popped back by saying, “And a copy of your ID, right?
Especially during a time like this, what a predatory thing to do to a struggling profession.
As a #teacher I know what brand I won’t be buying.”
Ouuuuuchh….
Not exactly the best way to show teacher appreciation… but really quick, I’m curious to hear your
thoughts on the giveaway.
Do you think teachers were actually misled, or do you think this was typical giveaway
protocol?
Be sure to chime in down below in the comments.
But although Reese has yet to address the issue, Draper James has been on full damage
control in an attempt to save its reputation.
In an email sent to the teachers, and shared as a series of Instagram stories, the clothing
line apologized for the inconvenience, saying QUOTE, “When we set out to give away 250
dresses to teachers working tirelessly during this unprecedented time, we moved too quickly.
We did not anticipate such an overwhelming response, and fell short in our efforts.
The brand then explained that they would donate to a charity that provides “school necessities
to send to their remote-learning students.”
Although the attempt was made, teachers are still pretty upset with Reese and Draper James
for the seemingly “classic bait and switch”, especially during a pandemic, like this teacher
said.
Considering this is Reese’s company, she’s most likely very aware about the issue, so
it may be only a matter of time until she speaks out.
The Draper James tea spillage may take a while to clean up, but there’s plenty more tea
to go around, including Jeffree Star’s newest controversy surrounding his makeup brand,
which you can click to watch right over here.
I'm Sussan Mourad with Clevver News, bye guys!