Kmart’s Christmas product is being pulled from the shelves due to an embarrassing blunder by Hamas
- Kmart has released a ‘Ham-mas’ Christmas bag
- Retail chain quickly realized their mistake
- Hamas invaded Israel on October 7
- READ MORE: Footy star’s Hamas backflip
Kmart’s Christmas ham bags, emblazoned with the words ‘Merry Ham-mas’, have been removed from shelves amid concerns they could be confused with the Hamas terror group.
The retail giant’s $4 bags have been removed from stores and its website after its parent company, Wesfarmers, received a complaint from the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) on Wednesday.
Accidentally associating the Christmas period with a designated terrorist group was “really not a good idea”, the association wrote to Wesfarmers.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian terror group, which controls the Gaza Strip, launched a series of terror attacks on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and taking another 240 hostage.
Kmart pulled a $4 ‘Merry Ham-mas’ bag from its online store after the Australian Jewish Association pointed out the obvious blunder
The AJA assumed that “some product manager” had probably made the seemingly obvious blunder
The AJA wrote on Twitter that it wanted to help Kmart avoid embarrassment by pointing out the obvious error.
‘Yes, it’s real!! While this is potentially funny (the AJA committee has thrown around some non-PC jokes), it really doesn’t look good,” it wrote.
‘We suspect that a product manager could embarrass the company.
‘So we politely wrote to Wesfarmers… suggesting the product be withdrawn.’
Within an hour of their initial message, the group said they had heard from Kmart’s senior management.
By 5pm, Kmart had removed the bag from its stores, but not before it spread across the internet and caused waves of ridicule.
Many customers said they thought the photos of the bag were a parody before realizing it was real.
One person said the short-lived Christmas ham bag was now destined to become a collector’s item thanks to its short lifespan on sale.
Another pointed out that Hamas itself would not be a fan of the item, “as the majority a) wouldn’t celebrate Christmas and b) probably wouldn’t eat pork.”
Kmart senior management confirmed they had received the feedback and the ‘Ham-mas’ bag was removed from their website at 5 p.m.