Poundland has pulled a range of plastic carving pumpkins after a backlash on social media that led to customers threatening to boycott the chain.
On Sunday, Welsh beach cleaning volunteer group Aberystwyth Beach Buddies posted a photo of the pumpkins after spotting them in a local branch,
The group drafted and shared a copy-and-paste letter, encouraging shoppers to “cause a stink” by contacting Poundland and urging the company to remove the product from sale.
The shareable letter read: “As a high street brand retailer you have a duty of care to your customers and beyond that to our one and only planet, the environment and our future [and] you have grotesquely failed in providing this.”
Other eagle-eyed shoppers also shared photos of the range on Facebook and on Twitter. “Are you aware of the amount of un-recyclable waste already in landfill and in our oceans?” one user wrote.
Another said: “If only there was an environmentally-friendly alternative that wouldn’t create a tonne of litter and destroy our oceans and it’s inhabitants… You know, like an ACTUAL PUMPKIN.”
A Poundland spokesperson told HuffPost UK the chain would pull the pumpkins from sale.
It tweeted customers to say: “While these items have been on general sale in many retailers, we confirm we’ve taken the decision not to re-purchase them and remove them from sale today.”
