Email Copy Update Changelog — July 3, 2026

Full rewrite pass across all 54 email templates × 3 languages, applying the new [Fika Tone of Voice](Fika_Tone_of_Voice.md) guide plus the existing [full language prompt](full%20language%20prompt%201%20July%202026.md), with a stop-slop pass to strip AI-writing tells (filler openers, adverbs, passive voice, binary "not X, it's Y" contrasts). This supersedes the July 1 pass — that one mechanically swapped terms; this one rewrites tone, structure, and energy calibration per moment.

One deliberate exception to stop-slop: Fika's brand voice uses em dashes as a signature rhythm device (see the Tone of Voice examples table). Em dashes were kept throughout; only filler, adverbs, and passive constructions were cut.


What changed, by category

1. Energy calibrated to the moment

Per the Tone of Voice's "match the energy to the moment" rule, copy was leveled up or down depending on what's happening:

onboarding, trial start, introductions, group events, newsletter.

final-hour reminders (match_reminder_35h, like_back_12h), trial-ending (trial_email_4).

group_admin_cancelled, group_user_cancelled, date_failed.

2. Guilt, FOMO, and fake urgency removed

Onboarding dropoff and win-back series were rewritten to invite rather than chase:

finality) → "Still here when you're ready" / "vẫn ở đây, khi bạn sẵn sàng".

"you haven't been active" framing wherever present; led with what's waiting instead.

— "Your membership's on pause" — no countdown, no hard sell.

3. Fika defined by what it is, not what it isn't

Negative-listing phrasing ("no swiping," "no endless messaging," "Inget fram och tillbaka") was rewritten as positive statements of what Fika does, per the Tone of Voice's "define by inclusion" rule — e.g. welcome EN: "no silence, no ambiguity" → "you'll always know where you stand"; SV: "Inget fram och tillbaka, ingen planering" → "vi sköter planeringen."

4. Product truth corrected

"the Story we've built for the two of you."

person can't make it — never "credit," "coin," or "point."

wherever it had crept back in (e.g. account_deletion, membership_expiration).

5. Contractions restored throughout (English)

Swept every EN body and subject line for stripped contractions — the Tone of Voice calls this "the #1 sign copy has gone robotic." Examples: "has been deleted" → "'s been deleted" (account_deletion), "is live" → "'s live" (trial_email_1).

6. Adverbs and filler cut (stop-slop)

Removed hedges and intensifiers that add nothing: "genuinely," "really quite," "simply," "helt enkelt," "thật sự," "verkligen" — across founder_intro, reactivation_45d, and others. Cut throat-clearing openers ("Good instinct," "Here's a reminder of what's waiting for you").

7. Subject lines and preheaders

Several were duplicates or near-duplicates of the subject and were rewritten to add new information (e.g. offline_event_intro, post_trial_cancel_d30).

filled in, ~85–100 characters, no full stop.

name sits" rules — e.g. reactivation_60d: "We'd love to see you back" → "We've missed you, {{first_name}}".

8. Language-specific fixes

Swedish

"möts" → "träffas").

introduerar" (garbled, wrong meaning) → "vi väntar hellre än introducerar."

Vietnamese

(last stragglers caught in this pass: group_admin_cancelled, group_user_cancelled config preheaders).

language had survived.

characters instead of real copy (onboarding_dropoff_d10, onboarding_dropoff_d14).

English

swiping / ghosting / dating app — confirmed absent from all customer-facing copy (one harmless false-positive match on the word "Users" inside an internal template label, not shown to members).

9. fika (lowercase) as the concept word

Extended beyond the July 1 pass — swapped in wherever "meeting," "conversation," or a generic noun stood in for the actual event, e.g. membership_d14: "conversation" → "fika" across all three languages.

10. Endings

Templates that ended flat now close with a warm, forward-pointing line before the CTA button, per the Tone of Voice's "don't end flat" rule — added or strengthened in group_reminder_post_5h, like_back_12h, membership_d17, and others.


Templates reviewed and found already on-voice (no changes needed)

newsletter_welcome, offline_event_intro (bodies), founder_intro (body.vi.html), match_reminder_35h (body.en.html, body.vi.html), membership_d25, membership_d28, reactivation_60d (bodies) — all already matched the new voice from the July 1 pass or were written correctly from the start; verified against the full checklist below rather than edited for the sake of it.


Verification

test/matchmaking/swiping/ghosting/dating app; SV: möta/trialen/personlighetstest/ matchning/matcha; VI: chúng tôi/ghép đôi/kết quả phù hợp).

({{first_name}}, {{partner_name}}, {{{...}}}, <%asm_preferences_raw_url%>) preserved untouched — only visible copy, subjects, and preheaders were edited.