A seven-year-old girl has asked supermarkets to “do the right thing” and stock Women’s World Cup stickers, because she was “sad and very angry” when she couldn’t find them in stores.
Immy Masterson wrote to Sainsbury’s and Tesco after she tried to spend her pocket money on the stickers – but couldn’t. Her mum, Caroline Masterson, who, tweeted the letter to the two supermarkets, described her daughter as a “fierce little thing”.
In her letter, Immy, from Horsham, West Sussex wrote: “I love football and I have been very excited about watching the Women’s World Cup. I was given the World Cup sticker book from my football club and was very happy to start collecting my stickers.
“I went to your supermarket today to spend my pocket money on the Women’s World Cup stickers but there wasn’t any there.”
Sainsbury’s responded by confirming that it does stock the stickers at 600 stores, but had sold out in the Horsham branch when Immy visited to spend her pocket money.
But Tesco said it would not be stocking the products in its main stores, although it does carry them in its One Stop convenience stores. The store told mum Caroline that Tesco didn’t have room because it was stocking ‘Panini LOL stickers’ (which feature sparkly dolls), commenting that they are “more popular with customers”.
In her letter, Immy, said she had spotted stickers for men’s football in the supermarkets, adding: “Not having the Women’s World Cup stickers is sending a bad message to girls everywhere that women are less important than men.”
She ended the letter by asking supermarkets to: “Show your support for equality and do the right thing”.
“As a parent I felt hugely disappointed for her and frustrated,”Caroline told HuffPost UK. “I’m a real firm believer that people are impacted by the limitations of what they are shown – many believe they can only be what they can see – or they hold the value others place in them. Not stocking these stickers is about the visibility women are given.”
It took Immy two days to finish writing the letter, she said: “But she was pleased she made the effort.”
In a later tweet, the mum shared screenshots of the response she received from Tesco, where the supermarket said it stocks “a very small range of collectables” and had chosen to put the LOL doll stickers on shelves, instead.
Caroline was unimpressed with the response.“A supermarket may feel they are not going to make lots of money out of selling a product, but, on occasion, they should think about their role in communities in promoting positive messages,” she said. “This is an important message. Besides, without stocking a product it is difficult to rate demand anyway.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “The Panini Women’s World Cup stickers are available to buy in around 600 of our supermarkets and have been popular with customers.”
Meanwhile a Tesco spokesperson said Panini Women’s World Cup products are only stocked in its One Stop convenience stores due to space limitations.
“Just like Immy, we love football and are very excited to cheer the teams on during this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup,” they said.
“We would like to apologise to Immy for not stocking the Panini stickers she was looking for at her local Tesco store but we do stock the FIFA Women’s World Cup sticker collection at our One Stop convenience stores, of which there are over 700 around the UK.”