Poor Taste Shopping Emails Abound During Hurricane Sandy

There’s apparently no better time to offer a sale to hurricane-devastated consumers than, well, during a hurricane.

That seems to be the idea behind several major sales being promoted to shoppers on the East Coast by retailers hoping to capitalize on the Hurricane Sandy disaster, which is the worst storm to hit the area in at least 75 years.

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On Monday, American Apparel sent an email to consumers about a 20-percent-off sale “in case you’re bored by the storm.” A map highlighted several states being affected by the hurricane — saying the offer is available only to those residents — and gave “SandySale” as the discount code.

According to Yahoo’s Shine, Urban Outfitters also sent out an email alert Monday morning containing the subject line: “This storm blows (but guess what doesn’t)…” The offer inside touted free shipping.

Gap, meanwhile, checked in at Foursquare to the “Frankenstorm Apocalypse,” touting plans to do “lots of Gap.com shopping.”

And other retailers haven’t backed off of their email blasts touting sales and specials over the past couple days. Gap, Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, Coach, Sears, JCPenney, Walmart, Sports Authority, Payless ShoeSource, Janie and Jack and other retailers who flood consumers’ inboxes on a regular basis have continued to do so. Even airlines including American Airlines have sent multiple emails since the storm surfaced.

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Suburgatory star Ana Gasteyer noted on Twitter all the messages she’d received with a sarcastic tweet: “I’d like to thank @ Costco @ OldNavy and @ jcrew for their frequent Emails during this stressful time. # Sandy.”

The irony, of course, is that much of the East Coast is without power, many residents are now homeless, and New York’s public transportation system is shut down, so online shopping is impossible and travel is essentially out of the question.