Send this page to someone via email

Ivanka Trump’s company is coming under fire after using Sunday’s appearance on 60 Minutes as an opportunity to flog a $10,800 US bracelet.

Trump appeared on the show with her father, president-elect Donald Trump, in his first major TV interview since winning the U.S. election.

READ MORE: Chelsea Clinton on Ivanka Trump: ‘Our friendship started before politics’

On Monday, Monica Marder, vice president of sales for Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, sent a “style alert” email to reporters in an attempt to push a bracelet Trump wore in her appearance.

Email sent to journalists by an @IvankaTrump employee, hawking the goods she wore on @60Minutes. pic.twitter.com/aCpNbBBArg — katie rosman (@katierosman) November 15, 2016

The style alert read: “Ivanka Trump wearing her favorite bangle from the Metropolis Collection on 60 Minutes” above a photo of the jewellery and a picture of Trump wearing the bracelet.

Story continues below advertisement

It is already happening: Trump Family Sees President of United States–as a Marketing Opportunity. pic.twitter.com/fa7AthLoBr — Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) November 15, 2016

Many eyebrows were raised as some declared the email to be a conflict of interest on Twitter.

Ivanka Trump's jewelry company is using her 60 Min appearance to market a $10k bracelet. Let the corruption & conflict of interests begin! https://t.co/NzydJUXHfZ — HawaiiDelilah (@HawaiiDelilah) November 15, 2016

Ivanka Trump is shilling the $10K bagatelle she wore on 60 Minutes. How long before we see ads like this from the always-on-the-make family? pic.twitter.com/iABf4sxzjQ — Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) November 15, 2016

A day later, the company issued a statement to NBC News which said the email was sent by “a well-intentioned marketing employee at one of our companies who was following customary protocol, and who, like many of us, is still making adjustments post-election.”

Since the election, ethics officials have been pushing for the president-elect to either sell his business or put an independent authority in charge but thus far he has said his children and executives will be in control. Given that he owns businesses around the globe, this could create serious issues for presidential independence.

READ MORE: Margot Robbie plays Ivanka Trump on ‘Saturday Night Live’ ‘Family Feud’

“Now we are faced with the possibility that a son or daughter of the president will turn up in Moscow or Uzbekistan or somewhere else negotiating a deal on a new property that will bear the name of the president, and the full knowledge that the president really is an owner of the company,” Trevor Potter, a former Federal Election Commission chairman and general counsel for George H.W. Bush and Sen. John McCain, told the Washington Post in September. “That presents problems of a dimension we have never seen before.”

Story continues below advertisement

Trump himself said he will be hands-off in running the business during a debate last January.

“If I become president, I couldn’t care less about my company. It’s peanuts,” he said. “Run the company, kids. Have a good time.”