Tesco apologises over 'ginger jibe' christmas card

[Hecktix]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8411894.stm


A Christmas card has been withdrawn from two Tesco stores in York after complaints that it makes fun of children with ginger hair.
The card shows a child with ginger hair sitting on the lap of Santa Claus, and the words: "Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones."
Davinia Phillips, 30, of York, whose three daughters are redheads, said she found the card offensive.
Tesco said it was sorry if the card had "caused any upset".
Ms Phillips, of Dringhouses, York, spotted the card while visiting her Tesco store in the city's Tadcaster Road.
She said: "I picked it up and I couldn't believe it.
"I just thought 'What is so funny about that?' I didn't really get the joke.
"I thought I would buy it, because I wanted proof that I had seen it."
Ms Phillips, herself a natural redhead, added: "The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I got and I told the lady who worked in the store I was not happy."
'Absolutely disgusted'
When Ms Phillips returned to the shop later that evening she said the card had been removed.
She added that the card had also been withdrawn from the Tesco branch at Clifton Moor, York, after her sister-in-law complained.
"I thought maybe it was just me because I am a mother of kids with red hair, but a lot of my friends and other people I know, we are absolutely disgusted," Ms Phillips said.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif It is never our intention to offend any customer and we are sorry if this card caused any upset http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Tesco spokesman

"Society comes down hard on how people look and there are so many children these days who are bullied because of how they look.
"If the card had been about an overweight child then the shop would have been shut down, and so would the people who made the card."
A Tesco spokesman said: "We sell a large range of Christmas cards, including some which are intended to be humorous. It is never our intention to offend any customer and we are sorry if this card caused any upset."
He added that they were still deciding whether to remove the card from other Tesco stores.
Card manufacturer, Essex-based Quitting Hollywood, said it had no comment to make.


I can't decide whether this is OTT or not...

[Technologic]

This is not OTT, its really offensive. Most people dont understand what its like, constant jibes for something they cant really control. (I'm not ginger, but i know what its like for other reasons)

[-:Undertaker:-]

This is not OTT, its really offensive. Most people dont understand what its like, constant jibes for something they cant really control. (I'm not ginger, but i know what its like for other reasons)

It isn't offensive at all, I have a ginger mate and he gets the piss taken out of him all the time, hes not depressed or really offended by it. I think a lot of people need to get over themselves and get out of their cotton wool that this government and culture has wrapped them in.

[Black_Apalachi]

Two people complain while I bet you hundreds saw the card and it made them laugh.


"I picked it up and I couldn't believe it.
"I just thought 'What is so funny about that?' I didn't really get the joke.
"I thought I would buy it, because I wanted proof that I had seen it."

The bold shows exactly the kind of people that would be so easily offended and make a fuss out of anything.


He added that they were still deciding whether to remove the card from other Tesco stores.

Lol so the spokesman clearly doesn't think it's bad at all. If he did, there would be no question about whether it should be removed from all stores. Removing it from this one was clearly just to please this individual :P.

[Absently]

Three of my best friends are ginger and if they saw it would probably be in the pisses over it.. they always get made fun of and everyone makes jokes about them being ginger but they don't care, they just laugh it off.

i think this is silly.

[Technologic]

It isn't offensive at all, I have a ginger mate and he gets the piss taken out of him all the time, hes not depressed or really offended by it. I think a lot of people need to get over themselves and get out of their cotton wool that this government and culture has wrapped them in.

Thats your mate, my mate find it really upsetting

[Lee]

This is a perfect debate.

I am not personally ginger, and if I was I wouldn't be offended unless the comments actually escalated into a form of bullying.

[adaym]

This is piss pants funny.

[Japan]

I think we can only really make a judgement if we are ginger.

[Wig44.]

Just a couple of stupid busy bodies who can't help sticking their noses in when it can make other people's lives harder. ******* hate them so much.

[adaym]

I think we can only really make a judgement if we are ginger.
According to your signature, you don't like racists or discrimination. What you are doing is discriminating. Because I'm not ginger I can't have an opinion on this? How stupid. How very, very silly of you. Hypocritical and silly.

[Inseriousity.]

I'd find the funny side, I'd have to or I'd cry. :P

[PaulMacC]

"I am absolutely disgusted"
Wise up, you aren't. You are just in it for the attention.

[Caution]

I saw a woman laughing at this a few days ago in Tesco. No-one can seriously think that's serious, surely? People should get a bloody grip..

[-:Undertaker:-]

Thats your mate, my mate find it really upsetting

Your mate finds it upsetting then, thats life. The majority of us don't, thats life. As I said before, people need to get over themselves because getting upset over a card is really really over the top.


According to your signature, you don't like racists or discrimination. What you are doing is discriminating. Because I'm not ginger I can't have an opinion on this? How stupid. How very, very silly of you. Hypocritical and silly.

I've challenged them over the UKIP issue, none of them seem to want to reply with how, why those 'sources' are racist, and whether or not the sources that Labour MEP provided were even genuine.

[adaym]

I've challenged them over the UKIP issue, none of them seem to want to reply with how, why those 'sources' are racist, and whether or not the sources that Labour MEP provided were even genuine.
Majority aren't old enough to vote and seem to jump on the "we hate change" bandwagon. They can't back up their arguments so I'm not bov'd.

[Agnostic Bear]

Essentially going to vote labour 2 million times to get rid of the chav population in the country.

[Tash.]

Haha this has just been on the local news, she lives not far away from me the woman who complained. It's so stupid though, how you can be offended by a blatant joke is beyond me.

[Cyndia]

I could easily see how they'd be offended.. though I do think it's a bit silly. Have you guys seen that south park episode about ginger kids? One of my best friends is a ginger and we used to tease her about it, I would totally buy her that card as a joke - she at least has a sense of humor about it all, unlike that woman in the story.

[Immenseman]

LMAO, it is well over the top to have to scrap it and apologise over it, it's just a joke.

p.s. labour ftw. i don't think UKIP are racist, i believe they'll just bring more instability when that's the last thing Britain needs as I've explained in other threads.

[Robbie]

Essentially going to vote labour 2 million times to get rid of the chav population in the country.

labour created it

[Grippz]

It's so stupid to sell something that relates to ginger hair in a negative way. Didn't someone realise that most Ginger people have had at least one negative comment threw at them about there hair colour. And now Santa was even negative about it LOL. What a stupid thing to sell.. Seriously..

[alexxxxx]

labour created it
your sig is wrong,

UKIP will just cut spending altogether.

[Seatherny]

The woman clearly has no sense of humour. Card makers are trying to be funny, she just wants to ruin the christmas spirit.

[-:Undertaker:-]

It's so stupid to sell something that relates to ginger hair in a negative way. Didn't someone realise that most Ginger people have had at least one negative comment threw at them about there hair colour. And now Santa was even negative about it LOL. What a stupid thing to sell.. Seriously..

Yeah but its only a harmless joke, its not got any malice behind it.


your sig is wrong,

UKIP will just cut spending altogether.

Cut spending on government, European Union and red tape and spend them on devolved levels, the military and things worth spending on.

[GommeInc]

Gosh, what happened to lightening up? :/ Just a joke, and quite a common reflection upon it, if someone took it serious they need a slap with the happy stick. There's worse Christmas cards out there, alot revolving around medieval views on women working in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner and NOTHING ELSE :P

EDIT: Also, aren't all other parties (not including Labour) the ones that will destroy the chav society? Seeing as the chav society is a Labour creation, though not necessarily derived from it (social issues, Americanisms, gangs etc)? :P

[-:Undertaker:-]

Gosh, what happened to lightening up? :/ Just a joke, and quite a common reflection upon it, if someone took it serious they need a slap with the happy stick. There's worse Christmas cards out there, alot revolving around medieval views on women working in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner and NOTHING ELSE :P

I do love them cards. :P

[Hecktix]

This thread is about TESCOS removing a card from the shelf, can we discuss the card and not this silly political debate going on all over these forums.

[alexxxxx]

to the actual topic, i can see why some people could find it offensive... but it's only a joke fgs.

[Hecktix]

to the actual topic, i can see why some people could find it offensive... but it's only a joke fgs.

Yeah I agree with this, however I do feel it has an essence of what one of my managers used to say to me:

"Customers are greedy ***** they'll complain about anything if they think they'll get something free out of it"

[GommeInc]

It's shocking how bad this is really, when you think about how easy Brits are with shrugging off things (tea anyone?) and you get a tiny complaint like this and everything is blown out of proportions. You'd think the way this was handled, everyone would be at each others throats for everything, like comedians making jokes about certain people and so on :/

[Black_Apalachi]

The fact she doesn't get it is what I don't get lol. You can't be ginger/have ginger children without being aware it is common for ginger people to be poked fun at. What ******* planet does she live on?

[ifuseekamy]

Normally I would say it's stupid political correctness. But they wouldn't dream of making a card with foreign kids saying the same thing or something along that route and if they did people would be in uproar. If it replaced 'ginger' with 'Islamic' you'd have muslims on the streets holding signs cursing tescos in the name of Allah and calling for its extermination :rolleyes:

[Eoin]

daywalkers shouldnt be entitled to an opinion.... JOKE JOKE CALM DOWN!!!

but it shows that point that although everyone does get the occasional slating from their pals, ginger people do get it a wee bit more.

[Black_Apalachi]

Normally I would say it's stupid political correctness. But they wouldn't dream of making a card with foreign kids saying the same thing or something along that route and if they did people would be in uproar. If it replaced 'ginger' with 'Islamic' you'd have muslims on the streets holding signs cursing tescos in the name of Allah and calling for its extermination :rolleyes:

Religism is hardly the same thing lol

[-:Undertaker:-]

Religism is hardly the same thing lol

That said, I think the shop should still be able to make fun of religion aswell but it'll never happen.

[Seatherny]

I guess people are more sensitive about religion than hair colour.

[GommeInc]

I guess people are more sensitive about religion than hair colour.
Might have something to do with ginger people not actually being a race or specific religious group with an individual belief, like a Ginger God or Carrot God :P That's like saying men and/or women are a specific type of race, when it's just a genetic definition, like saying people with monobrows are a specific type of race with a seperate religion :P

I think it was Reginald D. Hunter that said Britain can't do racism, we think ginger people are a race.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I guess people are more sensitive about religion than hair colour.

Yes, and I guess most people whether they are religious or not, whether they have ginger hair or not, whether they are gay or not, whether they are anything else - can take a joke. That is where we have gone wrong, nobody can take a joke anymore, everythings got to be equal when the world will never be equal.

Thats why socialism failed.

[Black_Apalachi]

... I think it was Reginald D. Hunter that said Britain can't do racism, we think ginger people are a race.

Yep it was, that man is a legend.

[Bun]

gingers unite.

[Ironiik]

Lmao dis is hilarious