Sainsbury’s ‘insensitive’ advert could not have been put in a worse location

Sainsbury’s has been deemed insensitive for putting up an advert that pumped out smoke in the shadow of Grenfell Tower.

The supermarket’s billboard for BBQ ribs in Shepherd’s Bush, London was erected close to the site of the fire that killed 72 people in 2017.

Smoke emitting from the advert caused such concern that shortly before 4pm on July 10, someone called 999.

A crew from Hammersmith Fire Station went to the scene and quickly established that it was just a marketing stunt.

Plumber Chloe Troncone filmed the firefighters standing next to the billboard and has since slammed Sainsbury’s for being insensitive.

She said: ‘They were trying to promote these smokey ribs and it was a good idea on paper but in reality it was an awful idea.

‘It’s quite a busy road so if you’re passing by, or are in, one of the many tower blocks and all you can see is smoke then your initial thought is to call the fire brigade.

‘It’s so close to Grenfell so I would say it’s a little bit insensitive to the people of the area.

‘It wastes the firefighters time because if they hear about smoke near a tower block they’re going to panic.

‘We were on the way to unblock a sink when we walked through this alleyway and came across the billboard.

‘We could see the smoke and two people were taking pictures and being all happy about it.

‘When we came back 15 minutes later we heard a siren so we walked up to look and saw the firefighters there while they were talking to the Sainsbury’s team.

‘They were saying they’d have to tell the call centre it’s an advertisement so they don’t keep getting called out.

‘I thought it was all just stupid and that it was too far. Just leave it as a billboard or at least write on it that it’s not real smoke.’

Sainsbury’s has apologised for any ‘upset and confusion’ the stunt caused and that they would use the feedback to review future campaigns.

A spokesperson said: ‘We are sorry for any upset and confusion this billboard design caused, while it was on display earlier this month.

‘Feedback is important to us and we’re reviewing any future campaigns in light of this.’

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