Wowcher apologised after a Saturday marketing email drew backlash for a subject line that read: “Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!” The message went to customers after a three-year-old boy was injured in a crocodile enclosure during a family trip to Johnsons of Old Hurst near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on Thursday.
The company said it was “extremely sorry” for the “unacceptable” wording. It also said the line “should never have been written” and “was never approved for use,” while adding that it was urgently reviewing how its processes failed.
Johnsons of Old Hurst
Police were called to the zoo at 13.24 BST on Thursday by the ambulance service. Police said the boy suffered serious injuries “while in the enclosure,” and the child was later described as being in a critical but stable condition at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the incident and was later bailed because he was “unfit for interview.” Wowcher’s email then landed with customers on Saturday, and screenshots spread across social media before the company responded.
Wowcher customers
One unknown customer said they had “now unsubscribed” from Wowcher’s emails. Another person called the message “disgusting” and wrote, “If that's real someone needs to be fired.” A screenshot posted to a Facebook group carried the caption: “Why do wowcher think its ok to use this as a heading on their emails??”
Wowcher said it was reviewing all scheduled marketing content while it urgently strengthened its creative, approval and sign-off safeguards. It added: “We recognise the hurt and distress it has caused, particularly for the young child's family at this unimaginably difficult time.”
The unresolved issue is how the wording reached a sent email if Wowcher says it had never been approved for use. That question now sits at the centre of the company’s review.
