Supermarket giant Lidl is under fire after launching new packaging for its Greek product series ERIDANOUS “Original Greek Product”.
For the new marketing campaign the German company has used photos of emblematic Greek Orthodox churches on Santorini, however, it has digitally processed the images by removing the crosses.
The image was selected to represent typical Greek products sold at its supermarkets, reports RTL.
Lidl has used different angles of the iconic Santorini church and surrounding chapels for it’s packaging of moussaka, yogurt, pistachios feta and so on, but anyone that has visited Santorini can tell an important detail is missing from the blue domes; the crosses have been erased.
A consumer first contacted RTL, a French-language television station, to express her anger. The same happened in the Belgium, and Germany.
More people complained about the distorted image that has appeared on Eirdanous Halloumi with Basil in the UK and the three-litre Lidl container of olive oil in Germany.
In a statement, Lidl UK told Premier: “We are extremely sorry for any offence caused by the most recent artwork and would like to reassure our customers that this is not an intentional statement.”
“I find the removal of the cross offensive”, while another asked: “Why use churches if you take away the cross? Idiotic!,” wrote a Twitter user.
“Lidl, since when is a picture of a Greek church provocative or disturbing? It only becomes that if you erase the cross!,” another commented.
The firm made issued another statement saying “We will ensure that all feedback is taken into consideration when redesigning future packaging.”
If you don’t want to offend customers with the use of religious symbols then instead of disrespecting a religious symbol, simply avoid using it. There are more than enough photos of other emblematic Greek landscapes, whether it be beaches or mountain villages Lidl could have used.