"To ensure these emails reach your inbox please add <sender> to your address book."
Does it not date back to the days of early anti-spam efforts; i.e. mail clients would score email from people you send stuff to more favourably than emails from unknowns.
I've no idea if it is still valid advice, or if it's one of those IT meme's that lingers ("Please disable your AV software before installing this application" being another bugbear of mine).
Greg