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Marks and Spencer, recently courted criticism over their Christmas clothing and home advert that showed paper hats in the colors of the Palestinian flag burning in a fireplace. The advert was posted on the Instagram page of one of the world’s largest affordable retail stores. However, it wasn't well received by people who believed the British retailer was subliminally taking a stance amid the escalating Israeli-Palestine conflict.
With the hashtag #LoveThismasNotThatmas showing red, silver, and green paper hats burning in the fireplace, the promo was captioned:
"This Christmas, do what you love... like saying no to paper hats"
The colors, similar to a Palestinian flag, have led people to believe that the British retailers were covertly sending a message amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Since the advert had people wondering if Marks and Spencer is a Jewish company, it is worth noting that Marks and Spencer is a Jewish company. The founder of the company, Michael Marks was a Polish Jew who immigrated to Leeds, England, from Belarus in the early 1880s.
He forged a partnership with Thomas Spencer of Skipton, Yorkshire, and they launched an affordable goods company. The company was later taken over by Michael Marks' son, Simon, after the founding partners' death in the early 1900’s.
Simon Marks then invited his brother-in-law Israel Sieff to be his business partner. The company thrived and became an immensely successful family-owned business under the management of Simon and Israel.
Marks and Spencer apologize over Christmas advert controversy
In light of public outrage, Marks and Spencer deleted the Instagram post and also issued an apology statement on X (formerly Twitter). They said that the Christmas advert was recorded in August 2023 before the Israel-Palestine conflict began.
They said that the burning of the colorful paper hats was a play on encouraging people to set ablaze to traditional practices as many do not enjoy wearing festive hats during the holiday season. They added that the advert intended to urge people not to conform to traditions they abhorred.
Part of the post 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 apologize for any unintentional hurt caused."
The campaign that showed many famous faces, including Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham and Queer Eye's Tan France seemingly asked shoppers to put themselves first.
However, social media users suggested the promo that has hats in colors of the Palestinian flag was an intentional message about the war stemming from the retailer's Jewish roots.
As social media users continued to criticize the retailer, Marks and Spencer maintained that the outtake for the promo was designed in August 2023.
The ad also featured blowtorching Christmas cards and whacking a toy elf with a baseball bat. It seemingly contained the underlying message of shedding undesirable Christmas practices and replacing them with things that would bring shoppers joy.
