We don’t need no haters: A letter to Tesco
NS August 6th, 2009
Dear Nameless, Soulless, Tesco PR Executive,
As a Tesco customer who regularly uses your online shopping service, I was very disappointed to recently discover that you have begun handing out the Daily Mail with every order delivered to a customer’s home. I’m assuming you have some kind of partnership with them as I noticed that there are ‘spend and save’ vouchers for your store in some editions of said newspaper as well.
That you have chosen to align your business with such a racist, homophobic, xenophobic and misogynist publication as the Daily Mail speaks volumes about your ethics or, at the very least, your company’s willingness to trample its ethics for the sake of PR tactics. Either way, I find it distasteful and disgraceful. The kind of vitriol and fear-mongering spewed forth by this rag on a daily basis is something that British businesses such as Tesco should be actively discouraging, not supporting by running promotions in its hate-riddled pages.
As a woman and an (perfectly legal and legitimate) immigrant, I am insulted that you think I would want such rubbish in my home. Just yesterday, along with my produce and tinned goods, I learned from its front page that the Daily Mail thinks teaching children about domestic violence is “silly” and a “waste.” The fact that 1 in 4 British women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime means that stories such as these, while perhaps merely sensationalist and annoying to some, are indeed very harmful as they contribute to a culture that places little value on the experiences and rights of those who were not lucky enough to be born male, white, straight and middle class in an English-speaking Western society.
Please can you clarify what the relationship is between Tesco and the Daily Mail and explain why you feel it appropriate to inundate your customers with irresponsible and utterly biased “journalism?”
Sincerely,
Noble Savage
