WAITROSE has apologised for upsetting customers in its latest Christmas advert.
The 60-second advert was released last week, depicting the time and effort farmers put in to Christmas products.
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The Waitrose advert has sparked backlash among viewers for including farmers comparing their sun tans to each other.
The dark tans had many shoppers feel it was insensitive to skin cancer patients, with several posting their thoughts to social media.
One tweeted the supermarket: “I work in Radiotherapy and am extremely concerned about your Christmas advert.”
Another said: “I understand that it takes time and research to get these adverts right, but I am dealing with melanoma at the moment and I think you may have just upset a few people by displaying the farmers and their suntans in your new Christmas add.”
And another said: “The advert shows two men laughing at their tans.
“It’s annoying for those who campaign for skin cancer awareness because they work tirelessly to educate people that a tan is dangerous and causes skin damage/cancer.
“The advert is seen to make light of it that’s all.
Waitrose has since apologised for the advert: “We fully support sun safety and worked with a medic on set throughout the filming.
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“They made sure everyone wore high factor sun protection, and gave advice to help our farmers stay safe, so we’re sorry for the upset caused.”
The Waitrose advert starts with a Christmas wreath being taken off a front door, fairy lights being switched off and a fir tree being dumped in a dustbin.
After that it switches to hardworking farmers and producers beginning their preparations for the holiday.
This includes sunburnt farmers working through summer to get their crops ready.
Last year’s Waitrose ad featured actress Ashley Jensen and top chef Heston Blumenthal.
It was the first time in two years that Waitrose, which is part of John Lewis, has had its own advertising campaign.
There’s since been a number of Christmas adverts unveiled in the past few weeks.
The much-anticipated advert from John Lewis has now come out.
It seeks to raise awareness about those in care across the UK.
