British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has been forced to defend a Christmas advertisement featuring a black family after some shoppers complained it lacked diversity. The advert, named <em>Gravy Song</em>, features a phone call between a father and daughter who are heard reminiscing over Christmas. The father talks up the taste of his homemade gravy while viewers are shown a series of nostalgic family videos and pictures. The supermarket also released another advert featuring a white family. A third advert will be released before Christmas. However, some social media users criticised Sainsbury’s for not “representing” the UK. One wrote: “I see the white people have been represented well in this advert, imagine a complete white family, imagine the uproar.” Another said: “Isn’t the UK supposed to be all about Diversity and Inclusion? Don’t see any of that here. Virtue signalling if ever I’ve seen it!” One shopper even threatened to boycott the supermarket: “NEVER shopping in Sainsbury’s again.” Sainsbury’s responded by saying that the supermarket was for “everyone” and they wanted their advertising to reflect that. A spokesman said: “We want to be the most inclusive retailer where colleagues love to work and customers love to shop. “We are proud that our advertising represents the diverse communities we serve and our Christmas campaign features three stories of three different families. “Sainsbury’s is for everyone and it’s important to us that our advertising reflects this.” It is the second race row Sainsbury’s has been drawn into in as many months. In October, actor Laurence Fox urged people to boycott the supermarket after it supported Black History Month. He accused Sainsbury’s of promoting racial “segregation,” but the supermarket rejected his accusation.
