Kmart Christmas 'Ham-mas' bag immediately pulled after complaints
The product has been branded a huge 'embarrassment' and 'stuff-up' by Kmart.
Kmart has immediately pulled a product from its Christmas range after it was branded a major "stuff-up" by the Jewish community.
The item in question — a festive-themed ham bag — which has the words "Merry Ham-mas" printed on the front, received swift backlash from the Jewish community over the message's similarity to terrorist organisation Hamas.
Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, killing 1400 people and capturing some 240 people, who remain hostage. The invasion sparked a devastating response, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 Palestinians — over 4,000 of whom are children — and 25,000 more have been injured.
Posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, the Australian Jewish Association branded the product "embarrassing" and a "stuff up".
"K-MART STUFF-UP! Check out the special Christmas bag currently available via K-Mart online," the post began. "Yes, it's real! Although this is potentially funny (the AJA committee has tossed around some non-PC jokes) it's really not a good look.
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"We suspect some product manager may cause the company some embarrassment. So we've politely written to Wesfarmers corporate suggesting the product be pulled."
K-MART STUFF-UP!
Check out the special Christmas bag currently available via K-Mart online. Yes, it's real!!
Although this is potentially funny (the AJA committee has tossed around some non-PC jokes) it's really not a good look.
We suspect some product manager may cause the… pic.twitter.com/vGswVvvNG6— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) November 8, 2023
Kmart reacts quickly to complaints from Jewish community
Shortly after, the organisation followed up with a second tweet, revealing Kmart has agreed to pull the product.
"An AJA success — we were just contacted by senior management — the K-mart Ham-Mas bag is being pulled now from the website and all stores," they wrote.
David Adler, the Australian Jewish Association president, said that while the inference wasn't intentional, it may have been just another prop to "harass the Jewish community".
“Of course, there are bigger issues to be addressed, dealing with the actual terrorism is important, but one of the other things we are dealing with is propaganda," Adler told The West Australian.
“I want to give credit to Kmart management as they acted very quickly.”
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