Sainsbury’s Forced To Respond After Racist Backlash To New Christmas Ad

Sainsbury's has issued a statement responding to backlash about their new Christmas advert after they featured a Black family.

The heartwarming ad, entitled Gravy Song, shows a daughter ringing her dad at home to check on the family during lockdown.

You can watch it here:

The youngster begins talking about her hopes to see her family at Christmas and her mum's roasties - before her dad interrupts asking: "What about my gravy?"

He then bursts into song about his gravy, seeing the daughter cringe on the other end of the phone line before saying she "hopes" she can be home for Christmas this year.

The phone call is accompanied by a series of photos and home footage of the family celebrating Christmas together.

Sainsbury's)

However, the feel-good had has received a vile backlash on social media, with a number of trolls criticising Sainsbury's for using a Black family to tell the story of their commercial.

While some of the messages are too appalling to repeat, some customers responded on Twitter they were going to "boycott" the store for using a Black family.

Another said: "Possibly the worst Christmas ad I've ever seen. Well done Sainsbury's. I'll shop at Tesco's...carry on being woke and watch the share price drop."

"Another one added to the banned list," a third added.

Sainsbury's)

A fourth wrote: "Absolutely sickening."

Instagram account Voices of Colour, which created a gallery of the hateful comments directed at the advert, has now reported that Sainsbury's has responded to the racist comments.

"At Sainsbury's, we want to be the most inclusive retailer," the retailer said. "That's why, throughout all our advertising we aim to represent a modern Britain, which has a diverse range of communities.

"We have three stories of three different families in our advertising."

The Gravy Song advert has been posted to YouTube. Comments have since been turned off to prevent any further outpouring of racist remarks.

Sainsbury's have two more adverts for their Christmas season, one titled Perfect Portions and another titled Big Sarnie, which will air over the festive season.

Emma Bisley, Head of Broadcast Marketing at Sainsbury's, said of the festive campaign: "We know that this year has been different for everyone, so we wanted to take a different approach with our Christmas campaign by simply reminding people that Christmas dishes are gestures of love and care, served by up by those who matter most. It's our memories of these dishes, prepared by the people we love, that have the power to transport us home - whether we're there or not.

"It was important to us to focus on family connections and emotions, creating a relatable and heartfelt look at the memories Christmas brings, whilst providing a sense of optimism throughout. We hope everyone enjoys watching the collection and it takes them back to their fondest memories of food, home and Christmas."

Topics: Christmas, lockdown, sainsbury's

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley