London Bridge & Five-Letter Death Words | 4M #19
Welcome to the nineteenth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
Wordle: Deathcare Version
Have you caught the Wordle bug yet? Millions of people play the web-based word game every day, and here’s why: It just takes a few minutes out of your day, it’s fairly straightforward with just the right amount of challenge, and it’s free. Basically, you get six chances to guess the day’s five-letter word. You get clues after each guess — if a letter in the word you guessed is in the daily word but in the wrong place, the tile turns yellow; if a letter is in the word and in the correct spot, it turns green. Although this fad, too, shall eventually pass, it’s great fun for now — especially when you share your results (not the answer … just how quickly you guessed it) with other players. You can start with any five-letter word, including D-E-A-T-H, D-Y-I-N-G, G-R-A-V-E, O-B-I-T-S, N-I-C-H-E … Well, you get the picture!
Royal Funerals are a “Large Undertaking” (haha)
Business Insider’s got jokes (see headline above) … but seriously, though — if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be the funeral home serving Britain’s royal family, you’ll want to read this story in BI. From arranging processions “with a gun carriage and military contingents” to keeping a special coffin ready for sudden deaths, handling royal dispositions requires a good deal of planning. For example, Leverton & Sons, the current royal undertakers, created the codename “Operation London Bridge” for the Queen’s impending at-need services, and are prepared to send her “first call coffin” on a plane called the “Royal Flight” if she happens to die abroad. For a full itinerary of perhaps the most extensive pre-need plan ever, check out this 2017 article in The Guardian.
Gathered Here Gathers Together Most Everything End-of-Life
If the phrase “death tech” isn’t part of your vocabulary yet, rest assured that it will be, soon enough. All over the world, entrepreneurs and established companies alike are using technology to make arranging funerals and other accoutrements of death just a few keystrokes away. Last week an Australian death tech startup called Gathered Here secured $1 million in venture capital — and that’s on top of a $1.1 million seed round that closed in May 2021. Why all the interest? Gathered Here, which actually started in 2016, is a pretty smart idea. It’s a website that offers five end-of-life services all in one place, including:
- Free will creation,
- A comparison/quote tool for funeral directors, prices, and reviews,
- A directory of celebrants,
- A directory of “Australia’s top headstone, gravestone & monument masons,” and
- A free, no-obligation, fixed-fee quote for probate services.
Are You Seeing What We’re Seeing?
Last week we came across a news report about an East Coast funeral home being sued for burying someone in a potter’s field instead of cremating them, as requested by the family (and reported on the death certificate). Then we noticed another complaint was filed against this same funeral home chain (different location) for negligent preparation of a dead body. A third location is also accused of mishandling bodies — specifically, botching embalmings or not performing them at all but charging for them. All of these deaths occurred in the last three months of 2021.
Now, we don’t claim to be investigative reporters vying to break the next big story, but a simple internet search reveals not only these issues, but also a 1.5 Yelp rating and a score of 1.7 on Parting.com. Eight of 13 Google locations sport ratings of 2.8 or less, and there have been 16 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau in the last three years. A news station’s investigation uncovered records of multiple lawsuits. Common sense tells us there’s a big problem with this company, and they’re a black eye on the face of deathcare. So here’s the big question: What does it take for an owner to realize they’re doing more harm than good and just call it quits?
FAKE NEWS!!!!!
Fake news, misinformation, opposing viewpoints, call it whatever you want- it’s everywhere! In fact, we’ve even heard people say, “live streaming funeral services is so difficult!”
Well well well, Get some mustard and a little bit of bread, cause that’s bologna!
MemoryShare makes it simple for your funeral home to live stream, save, and get the most out of every service. The app makes it super easy, and you can record your full service with the touch of a button. Also, by sharing these streams with your community, you showcase your excellent service and create name recognition with the viewers.
Two things funeral homes need in 2022 are visibility and increased call volume. MemoryShare provides both of these things as well as a team of REAL people you can talk to if you ever run into trouble.
Don’t believe the lies! Learn more about MemoryShare today!
