Tesco has pulled their latest ad featuring Mel B, after the Spice Girls singer hit out at the supermarket on Instagram.
On Monday, Mel B made headlines when she shared a photo of the advert – which featured a photo of her during the Spice Girls’ iconic Brit Awards performance with a speech bubble promoting a new Tesco deal – on social media, suggesting it was the first time she’d seen it.
Alongside the photo, Mel wrote: “Can the CEO OF @tescofood DAVE LEWIS PLEASE CONTACT ME URGENTLY. Thank you.”
Hours after the post went viral, a spokesperson for the supermarket announced that Tesco would not be using the ad in future, despite insisting they were authorised to use her image.
They explained: “Here at Tesco we are really big fans of Mel B and were excited to feature her photo in our campaign.
“We had authorisation to use this image, but we’re sorry Mel B is unhappy so we’ve stopped using it.”
Mel is yet to respond to the news that Tesco has axed the advert in question, but her original post remains on her Instagram.
Small-print at the bottom of the advert read: “Mel B is a patron for Women’s Aid and is making a donation to the charity.”
As Spice Girls devotees will remember, Mel B and her original bandmates did actually appear in Tesco’s Christmas ads back in 2007, around the time of their first reunion.
The advert saw all five of the Spice Girls – including Victoria Beckham, who declined the offer to take part in the band’s 2019 stadium tour – doing some Christmas shopping in Tesco, while trying to avoid one another.