A London outpost of U.K. grocery chain Tesco came under fire this week for an extraordinarily insensitive display pegged to Ramadan, which began on June 17.
Employees at a Tesco on London's Liverpool Road set up a red cardboard box in one of the supermarket's aisles. It was labeled with the Pringles logo, a white crescent and the words "Ramadan Mubarak," meaning "Blessed Ramadan." So far, so good, right?
The problem was what was in the box: canisters of "smokey bacon"-flavored Pringles.
Tesco offers special deals for Muslims during Ramadan. There’s only one problem the crackheads are promoting Ramadan...
Posted by The Asian LAD on Tuesday, June 23, 2015
The display was doubly problematic. Islamic dietary codes classify all pork, including bacon, as haram, or forbidden to devout Muslims. In addition, the strict observance of Ramadan requires fasting during the day, so most Muslims probably aren't snacking on that many Pringles during the holiday.
In Tesco's defense, the Pringles don't contain any actual pork -- their bacon flavor is purely artificial. Still, that fact didn't stop consumers from taking to social media to express their dismay (and, in some cases, amusement) at Tesco's insensitivity.
The person who first spotted the display, Raza Hassan, told BuzzFeed that he found the deal "hilarious."
Pringles and Tesco have since apologized for the gaffe, and Tesco has removed the offending display.
"We are proud to offer a wide range of meals and products to meet the needs of our customers during Ramadan," a Tesco spokesperson told HuffPost UK. “We recognize these Pringles weren’t in the most suitable place and our store colleagues have now moved them."
