UK’s leading supermarket Tesco is under fire after it made a display error advertising smokey bacon flavoured Pringles in their Ramadan offers.
UK supermarkets will be looking to capitalise on promoting their products to the UK’s three million Muslims as they observe the month of Ramadan. It is believed supermarket sales could be boosted by as much as £100million worth of sales thanks to Ramadan, which according to retail consultants is now the third most important religious festival behind Christmas and Easter.
So naturally in a bid to capture Ramadan sales Tesco have put on Ramadan offers throughout their stores. However, one store in London got it wrong.
Consumption of pork and products made from pork is strictly forbidden in Islam so you can imagine the reaction on social media sites, when Smokey Bacon flavoured Pringles crisps were added as part of the Ramadan offers in the London store.
Whilst some reacted with humour, some were not pleased.
One person tweeted, ‘Stupidity at it’s best’, whilst another said ‘The irony of it is hilarious! Someone at Tesco thought it would be a good idea to promote Ramadan deals using bacon-flavoured Pringles.’ with another saying ‘As if Tesco advertised smoky bacon Pringles for Ramadan. They probably taste of ignorance too’
Tesco have responded to Asian Sunday via a statement reading:
“We are proud to offer a wide range of meals and products to meet the needs of our customers during Ramadan. We recognise these Pringles weren’t in the most suitable place and our store colleagues have now moved them.”
An official spokesperson from Kelloggs who own the Pringles brand told Asian Sunday ‘The bacon flavour Pringles should not have been displayed in the promotional stand, it should have been our three best sellers – Original, Salt and Vinegar and Sour Cream.’
In a statement Kelloggs said “
“We apologise for the mistake, which was made in one store in London. These Pringles cans have now been moved. “It was never our intention to cause any offense and we’ve taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
