A cruise company has had to jump to some serious damage control this week after pictures emerged online of their staff wearing — get this — all-white, pointy-hood costumes at an event.
All-white clothes? Pointy hood? If that description rings a bell, it might be because it sounds eerily similar to robes worn by the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
As reported by the Daily Mail, P&O Cruises Australia has been scrambling to manage the fallout of the shady outfits worn by staff at a Christmas-themed event aboard the Pacific Explorer in December.
Passengers were quick to call out the uncomfortable resemblance and naturally, questions started flying.
The “snow cones” make their way to the event. Source: The Daily Mail
According to one passenger on Facebook, she contacted the company regarding the incident.
“And they never got back to me,” she said.
Another bluntly asked, “Snow cones? They must think the public is stupid.”
Quoting a passenger who was on board, the Daily Mail reported there was initially a lot of “excitement” about the event, that had been broadcast across the cruise in the preceding days.
However, “everything went quiet when the housekeeping team arrived” in their outfits.
P&O Cruises didn’t waste time issuing an apology, claiming their staff had no idea their “snow cone” costumes could be seen as anything other than innocent holiday fun.
“We regret if a recent incident on a Pacific Explorer cruise offended any guests. Several crew members dressed up as snow cones for a Christmas family event, not understanding how their costumes could be misconstrued,” a spokesperson said.
“They were only in public view for a short time before management acted quickly and had them remove the costumes.”
They clarified the crew members were “horrified” and “extremely apologetic” when they learned of the distress their outfits caused.
Speaking on 2GB Radio, P&O’s communications director, Lynne Scrivens, rejected any suggestion that the crew had intended to mimic members of the white supremacist group.
“Come on. No one can seriously think that was their intention. Our housekeeping crew were dressed as snow cones,” she said.
“They were taking part in a Christmas family fun day on the ship as part of our Christmas crew. It was a tug-of-war event where the crew dress up, and our housekeeping crew decided to dress up as snow cones.”
She further explained that the staff, who come from diverse backgrounds, were unaware of the historical significance of their costumes.
“Our crew are from different cultures all over the world. They’re young, and they had just never heard of that organisation or what their outfits could symbolise,” Scrivens said.
Umm… okay? Not entirely sure if we’d necessarily buy that today’s young people are that clueless.
Anyhoo, P&O Cruises is probably hoping this will all blow over — but something tells me they might just stick to Santa hats at the next Christmas event.
Lead image source: The Daily Mail
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