Kmart’s Christmas ham bags that are emblazoned with the words ‘Merry Ham-mas’ have been pulled from shelves over concerns they could be confused with the terror group Hamas.
The retail giant’s $4 bags have been removed from stores and its website after its parent company, Wesfarmers, received a complaint from the n Jewish Association (AJA) on Wednesday.
Accidentally associating the Yuletide season with a designated terrorist group was ‘really not a good look’, 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 about 240 more hostage.
Kmart pulled a $4 ‘Merry Ham-mas’ bag from its online storefront after the n Jewish Association pointed out the obvious blunder
The AJA assumed that ‘some product manager’ had likely made the seemingly obvious blunder
The AJA wrote on Twitter that it wished to help Kmart avoid embarrassment by pointing out the obvious mistake.
‘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,’ it wrote.
‘We suspect some product manager may cause the company some embarrassment.
‘So we’ve politely written to Wesfarmers … suggesting the product be pulled.’
Within an hour of their initial post, the group said that it had heard back from Kmart’s senior management.
By 5pm Kmart had pulled the bag from its storefront, but not before it had spread across the internet, amassing waves of ridicule.
Many customers said that they assumed photos of the bag were a parody before they realised that it was real.
One person said that the short-lived Christmas ham bag was now fated to become a collectors item thanks to its short life on sale.
Another pointed out that Hamas itself would not be a fan of the item ‘considering the majority a) wouldn’t celebrate Christmas and b) likely don’t eat pork’.
Kmart’s senior management confirmed that they had received the feedback and the ‘Ham-mas’ bag was removed from their website by 5pm