M&S has removed its Christmas advert for 2023 and apologised after it was accused of burning the colours of the Palestinian flag.
The high street giant shared their festive offerings for the Christmas season this week – but the advert went up in smoke when, instead of fostering festive spirit, it ignited campaigners' rage.
The shop was accused of burning Christmas party hats in the colours of the Palestinian flag on a fire during the video, after it shared a still image of part of the advert.
The image, an out-take from one of the company's TV adverts, showed red, green, and silver hats burning in a fireplace – similar to some of the colours of the Palestinian flag, which are red and green, but also white and black.
But M&S has apologised and said the intent was only to "playfully show that some people don't enjoy wearing paper Christmas hats" and not to share political opinion.
They immediately removed the image and said the advert was filmed in August, before the latest Israel-Gaza conflict began, adding that the hats were "traditional, festive coloured red, green and silver Christmas paper hats".
In a statement they said: "We have removed the post following feedback and we apologise for any unintentional hurt caused."
The photo was a screenshot from the company's annual Christmas advert, which this year took on the theme of people getting rid of Christmas traditions they no longer love doing.
But the picture drew criticism from several social media users who claimed there was a similarity between the colours of the hats and the Palestinian flag, with one user describing the photo as "distasteful".
The Advertising Standards Authority, which regulates advertising in the UK, says it has received 40 complaints about the Instagram post.
The regulator says it is reviewing the complaints to determine whether further action is needed, but is not currently investigating the advert.
But what do we know about M&S as a company?
How did M&S begin?
M&S started back in 1884, but not how we know it now.
Immigrant Michael Marks came to the north of England and set up a stall at Kirkgate Market in Leeds. Having arrived with little money and limited English, he built his success using the slogan, “Don’t ask the price, it’s a ’Penny”, selling simple homewares. He then joined forces with Tom Spencer, a cashier from wholesalers Dewhirst. From this partnership, ‘Marks & Spencer’ and its first Penny Bazaar stores were born and have grown into the business it is today.
Who owns M&S?
Marks and Spencer is a long-established British retailer that has been on our high streets for more than 100 years.
Over that time, it has changed dramatically, with hundreds of new stores and changes of ownership.
The Marks & Spencer Group is a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange with a raft of shareholders.
It is currently in the FTSE 250 Index – a list of the largest companies on LSE that are ranked from 101st to 250th.
For the year ending April 1, 2023, the retailer's pre-tax profits jumped 21 per cent to £475 million while revenues grew 9.9 per cent to £11.9 billion.
Marks & Spencer has two co-chief executives at the helm and earlier this year it was reported how they both took home more than £2m in pay last year as sales and profits jumped. Stuart Machin earned £2.5m including a £1m bonus and Katie Bickerstaffe earned £2.25m after a £989,000 bonus.
