This week I received an email from Virgin Wines with the subject line "help out our mates down under". I immediately thought this must be some form of appeal for victims of the terrible fires, many of which have hit wine growing regions. But no. It was an honest, but ill-timed, plea to buy help out some Aussie winegrower 'mates' as the credit crunch had hit demand and they were struggling with exchange rates. Nothing to do with the fires at all.

Virgin Wines were simply unlucky. They create the most lively, interesting emails. In any other circumstances, the subject line and content would have been completely innocuous. It was only the extraordinary events of the past week that made them appear callous or even exploitative. When I pointed out the unfortunate wording they emailed back the following day, apologising and reassuring me that procedures are being put in place to ensure it never happens again. I think they should have offered to make a small contribution to the appeal, but no matter.

The fires ignited on Saturday 7th February and the email is dated Tuesday 10th February, so there wasn't much time to press 'stop' over the weekend, especially as the scale of the tragedy was not immediately apparent. The lesson here though is that it is very easy to offend or distress people, whether you intend to or not. Virgin Wines were not reckless and there was clearly no intent. But email (and mail) are personal media and much more prone to cause real offence than a poster.  Email's strength is its immediacy and speed, so recipients feel there must always be time to amend or prevent it (as is not quite the case with printing and delivering a mailing).

Of course, emails and letters will always land at a bad time - a cancer charity appealing to a recently bereaved family or the offer of contents insurance as the recipient's home is being repossessed. While we cannot foresee these unfortunate events we need to be aware of the dangers and do everything to minimise the risk of offence. If major disaster happens, we should double-check all our work immediately in the light of changed circumstances and public mood. And if in any doubt, don't do it.