KEY POINTS:
In the retail marketing bunfight that Mother's Day has become, New Zealand Post has been criticised for an advertising campaign which one retail group calls "emotional blackmail".
Auckland's Newmarket Business Association has called for a NZ Post radio advertisement which advocates sending a card to Mum, rather than ringing her, to be pulled from the airwaves.
The ad in question refers to a daughter being made to feel bad because she cheerfully rang her mother for Mother's Day, while her brother had sent a card and got a much better reaction.
The voiceover states that ringing shows one has remembered while sending a card shows that one cares.
The advertising was in very poor taste, said association general manager Cameron Brewer.
"Let's not forget that thousands of businesses promote themselves and their products for Mother's Day to gain a commercial advantage.
"However, it is bad taste to make people feel inadequate if they chose to telephone their mother to mark the occasion. At worse, it's nothing more than emotional blackmail."
Sending cards and buying presents and flowers should only ever be promoted as an option for Mother's Day - not as the only way to demonstrate love and respect, Mr Brewer said.
NZ Post could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Statistics New Zealand has released some relevant facts and figures to mark Mother's Day:
* Most women living in New Zealand become mothers. The 2006 Census showed that 86 per cent of women aged in their 40s had at least one child.
* Of these, 15 per cent had one child, 42 per cent had two children, 26 per cent had three children, and 17 per cent had four or more.
* In 2007 there were 64,040 live births, the highest number since 1963.
* The median age of all women giving birth in 2007 was 30 years, compared with 25 years in 1977.
* On Mother's Day 2007, 144 babies were born to 142 mothers.
* There were 32,790 first-time mothers in 2007, representing 52 per cent of all live births.
* A total of 1950 children were multiple births in 2007, compared with 1051 in 1977.
* Twins were born to 525 first-time mothers, and another five new mothers had triplets.
- NZPA
