06 November 2023 , 14:30
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Marks and Spencer faced backlash following the release of its Christmas advert - and we asked Mirror readers what they thought of the reaction.
The British retailer sparked fury after sharing an outtake from its festive ad on Instagram that showed paper hats - in the colours of the Palestinian flag - burning in the fireplace. The social media post, which had red, green and silver hats burning in the fire grate, had the caption: "This Christmas, do what you love... like saying no to paper hats”. The hashtag said #LoveThismasNotThatmas. "
While the caption suggests people should celebrate Christmas in their own unique way, rather than conform to festive traditions, some social media users have pointed out that the hats’ colours resemble those of the Palestinian flag. M&S was branded "insensitive" as the post was published amid the current Israel-Palestine conflict.
The retailer has since deleted the post, and shared a statement on X, which read: "While the intent was to playfully show that some people just don't enjoy wearing paper Christmas hats over the festive season, we have removed the post following feedback and we apologise for any unintentional hurt caused."
The retailer added that the advert was recorded in August, months before the conflict escalated on October 7, after a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel. In the last month, more than 8,800 Palestinians' lives have been taken, while over 1,400 Israeli people have died.
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The supermarket faced further criticism from educator Katharine Birbalsingh, who is known as "Britain’s strictest headteacher", as she accuses M&S for holding “two fingers up” to traditional values. In a letter, which she shared on X, Birbalsingh penned: "I feel compelled to write to you to express my deep disappointment and outrage at your Christmas advert for 2023.
"You have a duty as our national department store to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for the sake of our children … I run an inner-city school in London, where we try hard to instill values of decency daily in our children. When Marks and Spencer puts two fingers up to these values, it makes our lives as teachers much more difficult and it stifles social mobility and happiness for our children, in particular for the disadvantaged."
She concluded: "How can you do this to our country at this time? Shame on you. Please take the advert down. Try again. Do better." Following the recent backlash, we asked Mirror readers if they thought the M&S Christmas advert was offensive - and 82 percent said ‘No, it wasn’t’. Around 4,572 people voted in our poll and 3,732 selected the option ‘No’.
Voicing their opinions in the comments section of a previous Mirror article, one reader wrote: "I’m sure the concept was drawn up well before the conflict it’s just sheer coincidence and besides hats are usually the colours illustrated. I swear moaners are just going to moan, get a grip."
Another agreed: "Those colours have always been associated with Christmas, they are the colours of my Christmas decorations & Christmas tree ornaments every year. I'm pretty sure M&S didn't intentionally use those colours to offend anyone, think this head teacher is over reacting to this & sounds like she's easily offended & maybe one of the woke brigade."
"An ad campaign that M&S has likely had setup for months, with no connection to the conflict, suddenly gets turned into something it's not and they receive backlash for absolutely nothing. Welcome to the woke world where things make no sense," echoed a third.
Others confessed that the advert shows "disdain for Christmas", as someone wrote: "Whatever colour the hats somebody could take offence if they wanted to. The real problem with the ad was the absolute disdain shown for Christmas and the way ordinary people celebrate it. Upper/middle class snobs looking down their noses. Perhaps they are trying to pander to their more traditional customer base and want to appear hip and exclusive."
Some disagree with the burning of Chiristmas items, as another reader expressed: "I didn't think it an inspiring advert, where was the Christmas spirit of fun and kindness toward our fellow man? However, people who want to find fault, or be offended will find something to be offended about! It is pathetic when white, green and red are traditional and classic Christmas colours. The one thing I objected to were the hats being burnt! What was that about?"
"The concept of burning anything and filming it has aggressive connotations...flags, books, effigies has always been a form of anger or war statement... Christmas decor is never seen being burned. It is symbolic of good times round the table and Christmas fun ...It seems a very strange idea of M&S to concoct this and I have thoughts that is not a healthy idea. I support those who are banning M&S because the mere notion is suspect. I do not mind which side they support in outside matters as just the concept of burning Christmas items is not very nice," stated another.
Meanwhile, around 16 percent of voters said the advert "was offensive", and shared their thoughts on X, with one person writing: "Regardless if the ad was absolutely nothing to do with the genocide that’s happening someone in the marketing team knows what is going on in the world and still ran with the advert it’s insensitive and wrong."
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Replying to the original Instagram post, one commenter wrote: "This is absolutely vile, you should be ashamed of yourselves." Another agreed writing: "Absolutely disgusting. Even if it was recorded in August you should have reshot this image or used technology to make changes. Shame on you!!!"
Only 2 percent voted ‘Other’ on our poll. Please note that the poll is still live, so these results may change after the article has been published. You can still vote in the poll HERE to have your say on the M&S advert. Do you agree with the results? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.