Twitter users have slated Poundland for a series of sexually-suggestive posts about a ‘naughty’ Christmas elf issued as part of a cut-price publicity stunt.
The discount giant tweeted a blizzard of bawdy images of the elf accompanied by racy captions for a PR campaign the store claimed cost just £25.
One image showed the red and white stuffed toy drawing a suspiciously-shaped cactus with the caption, ‘That’s one prickly Christmas tree’.
Poundland tweeted a blizzard of explicit images of the elf accompanied by bawdy captions for a bizarre PR campaign the store claimed cost just £25
Another post showed the elf swinging a tea bag between his legs and posed the question, ‘how do you take your tea? One lump or two?’
Twinings said it had nothing to do with the post and accused Poundland of ‘misusing’ their product
One image showed the red and white stuffed toy drawing a suspiciously-shaped cactus with the caption, ‘That’s one prickly Christmas tree’
Many Twitter users reacted badly to the campaign, saying it was crass and overly sexualised
Lots of Twitter users accused Poundland of an overly-sexualised campaign, which Michelle Kasprzak called ‘extremely poor taste’
Another post showed the elf swinging a tea bag between his legs and posed the question, ‘how do you take your tea? One lump or two?’
Many Twitter users reacted badly to the campaign, saying it was crass and overly sexualised.
Mark Howsham said: ‘I get that the elf is being naughty, cheeky etc… but surely it didn’t have to be overtly sexual, a sign of the times sadly.’
Anne Bryceland wrote: ‘How to lower the tone of children’s toys Poundland. Especially in today’s climate of many types of abuse of women and girls.’
Maggie Jones replied to a lewd joke about a group of cartoon women by saying, ‘Oh god, this is just awful. Have you seen this and their other ads?’
And Mark Howsham added: ‘Many things are “funny” and I’m okay with that, but i do think everything has its on place. For me overtly sexual humour isn’t something for stores like.’
Mark Howsham reacted to one of the images by saying: ‘I get that the elf is being naughty, cheeky etc… but surely it didn’t have to be overtly sexual, a sign of the times sadly.’ Pictured: The elf playing poker with several scantily-clad women
This photo shows the Poundland elf helping to deliver a mini-elf in a pretend maternity ward
This image showed the ‘naughty’ Poundland elf drawing a pair of breasts on a frosted car window
One Twitter user who asked if the Poundland account had been hacked got a quick response from the store: ‘No, it has not been hacked’
Several users accused the retailer of a misjudged PR stunt, with ‘Digital Maverick’ writing under one post: ‘That Tweet is absolutely ill-judged.’
Another wrote, ‘I’ve hardly got the cleanest sense of humour,’ but added, ‘I think you’ve seriously misjudged’.
And another user wrote: ‘Do you have 14-year-old boys making your content? Actually I take that back. Most 14-year-old boys would have better judgement than this.’
Despite the condemnation, plenty of people rallied to Poundland’s defence, saying the campaign was funny and accusing critics of being overly sensitive.
This image showed one of the Christmas elves raising his arms in triumph next to two women in a bed
The tweets were based on an American festive game called Elf on the Shelf, which has spread to Britain
Aurelia Cotta called the campaign ‘absolutely disgusting’ but others rejected the criticism and said the stunt was funny
The retailer itself certainly showed no signs of repentance.
Marketing Director Mark Pym said: ‘If you think this is edgy, you should see the ones we didn’t post.
‘The love on Facebook is overwhelming – that’s because it connects with our shoppers.
‘In fact, we’re proud of a campaign that’s only cost £25.53 and is being touted as the winning marketing campaign this Christmas!’
One Twitter user who asked if the Poundland account had been hacked got a quick response from the store: ‘No, it has not been hacked’.