Bed, Bath & Way Beyond Back to School

This morning I got an e-mail newsletter from Bed Bath & Beyond titled “Products for Independent Living by Moen.” The contents were a bit unexpected. Certainly BB&B doesn’t take the time to get to know me. For starters, it’s mapped my nearest store in New Jersey instead of Manhattan, but I’ll forgive that. The products it’s advertising included bath products such as handrails, chairs, and grips for elderly and handicapped individuals. It’s one thing I got the message in the first place, but the adjacency of the message was also amusing. Tacked to the end was Bed Bath & Beyond and Staple’s back-to-school joint promotion to win two Smart cars, one for the parent, and one for the student. Parents may feel old when they send their kids off to school, but they are usually still a few years from needing a seat in the shower. While it’s understandable to tack promotional messaging on to each e-mail, it might be best to think about adjacency issues before hitting the send button.