Marks & Spencer forced to remove Christmas advert that upset pro-Palestinians

Marks & Spencer came under fire yesterday for a Christmas advert on Instagram which featured an image of red, green and silver paper hats burning in a fireplace. Critics pointed out the hats were the colours of the Palestinian flag.

M&S later removed the image and issued a statement that said: “Today we shared an outtake image from our Christmas Clothing and Home advert, which was recorded in August. It showed traditional, festive coloured red, green and silver Christmas paper party hats in a fire grate. While the intent was to playfully show that some people just don’t enjoy wearing paper Christmas hats over the festive season, we have removed the post following feedback and we apologise for any unintentional hurt caused.”

Queer Eye star Tan France, who appears in the advert with TV presenter Hannah Waddingham, accused social media users of making ‘ridiculous comments’ and told them filming took place in August – two months before the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

Many Instagram users defended the image.

One wrote: “Get a grip people! M&S you have done nothing wrong. The ad was not in bad taste at all.”

Another added: “Such a shame you’ve even had to issue this statement, people need to lighten up and stop reading into everything.”

However one suggested that “Blue paper hats would have been better” and another responded saying: “check out my profile I’ve edited the hats in blue and white.”

M&S is the latest large corporation to be attacked for allegedly taking sides during the conflict. Pro-Palestinian thugs have smashed windows at Starbucks and Palestinian-flag-coloured mice were set free in McDonald’s after an Israeli franchisee offered discounts to soldiers and security forces.

Starbucks faced a backlash after the company threatened to sue its labour union for copyright infringement after it posted a ‘Solidarity with Palestine’ message on social media using its logo.