Kmart’s Hamas blunder – which saw Christmas ham bags emblazoned with the words ‘Merry Ham-mas’ removed from shelves – has officially gone viral after comedian John Oliver roasted the Australian retailer.
The offending bags were removed from stores and the Kmart website after the retailer’s parent company, Wesfarmers, received a complaint from the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) last Wednesday.
British-American comedian John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, shared a clip of Channel Nine TV presenter Brooke Boney announcing Kmart’s decision to throw away the bags.
“Yeah, that’s too similar,” Oliver joked.
“It would be like naming your child John Blaine-gacy, it’s too close for comfort.
“But think about Australia’s Kmart for a moment: how were they supposed to know that Hamas was going to launch a terrorist attack so close to the ‘hammas’ season?”
The host continued, “It feels like Hammas starts a little earlier every year, doesn’t it? One day it’s ham-oween, the next day your neighbor hangs hammas lights.
“Understandably, things are very tense right now, and it seems like everyone, and I mean everyone, is making mistakes.”
Comedian John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, asked his audience to ‘spare a thought for Australia’s Kmart’ following the release of controversial ‘Merry Ham-mas’ bags last week
Kmart pulled a $4 ‘Merry Ham-mas’ bag from its online store last week after the Australian Jewish Association pointed out the obvious blunder – and now the blunder has gone global
In a statement, Kmart confirmed the bags had been removed from shelves.
“We were wrong on this occasion and offer our unreserved apologies,” the statement said.
‘We clearly did not consider all the implications when designing this product and the product has been withdrawn from the market.’
It comes after the AJA wrote on Twitter last week 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‘So we politely wrote to Wesfarmers… suggesting the product be withdrawn.’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 that day, 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.”
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.
In a statement, Kmart admitted it had ‘got it wrong’ and ‘apologised unreservedly’ (pictured,