Wowcher has issued an apology for sending out a ‘disgusting’ marketing email just days after a toddler was tossed into a crocodile enclosure.
The mass email in question, which went to millions of customers, had the subject line, ‘Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!’
It then advertised an Oceana inflatable kayak ride for two and a spa experience at a four-star Hampshire establishment.
This followed the news of a three-year-old suffering serious injuries at the family-run Johnsons of Old Hurst zoo in Huntingdon, outside Cambridge, on Thursday afternoon.
He was thrown 15 feet as his family watched, breaking his arm and pelvis when he landed on the concrete.
Tracey Johnson, 55, the zoo owner’s wife, bravely jumped into the reptile pit to save him.
The child was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and remains in a ‘critical’ condition but is stable.
In a statement addressing the poor-taste ad, a Wowcher spokesperson began: ‘We are extremely sorry for an email subject line sent by Wowcher yesterday.
‘The wording was unacceptable. It should never have been written; it was never approved for use.’
They added: ‘The responsibility sits with us, and we are urgently reviewing how our processes failed.
‘We recognise the hurt and distress it has caused, particularly for the young child’s family at this unimaginably difficult time.’
The company is now ‘reviewing all scheduled marketing content’, insisting that it will also ‘urgently strengthen [its] creative, approval, and sign-off safeguards’.