Retail giant Woolworths has outraged customers over a religious "error".
This comes after a customer shared a picture on social media taken at a Woolworths store of a sign‚ placed above Christmas decorations‚ wishing Hindu customers and staff a happy Diwali.
Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights which will be celebrated in the first week of November.
The post has drawn criticism from numerous social media users as well as the SA Hindu Maha Sabha.
“This is a demonstration of how callous a multi-million rand organisation like Woolworths is‚ especially considering how many Hindu customers they have‚” said Ashwin Trikamjee‚ president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha‚ a national body representing the cultural and religious aspirations of South Africa’s Hindu community.
“It speaks volumes of the type of attitude that Woolworths has. We will not accept their apology‚” he added. Many commenting on the picture‚ shared on Facebook‚ where outraged‚ labelling this “error” by the company as ignorant.
"Wow! I don’t think it’s meant to be distributed it shows how much ignorant they are. It’s about refusing to be educated about different religions‚ including their own‚" commented Facebook user Zama Pienaar.
"WOOLWORTHS Woolworths Woolworths TASTE Magazine ... that's a disgrace! The disrespect to an entire religion is really on another level!" wrote social media expert Yavi Madurai. In a response to TimesLIVE‚ the retail giant said: “We have investigated and found that this was an implementation error in one store. It was an honest mistake but we have sent a reminder note round to all of our stores to advise of them of the correct ticketing process. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.”
Woolies Christmas oops lights up Diwali anger
Retail giant Woolworths has outraged customers over a religious "error".
This comes after a customer shared a picture on social media taken at a Woolworths store of a sign‚ placed above Christmas decorations‚ wishing Hindu customers and staff a happy Diwali.
Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights which will be celebrated in the first week of November.
The post has drawn criticism from numerous social media users as well as the SA Hindu Maha Sabha.
“This is a demonstration of how callous a multi-million rand organisation like Woolworths is‚ especially considering how many Hindu customers they have‚” said Ashwin Trikamjee‚ president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha‚ a national body representing the cultural and religious aspirations of South Africa’s Hindu community.
“It speaks volumes of the type of attitude that Woolworths has. We will not accept their apology‚” he added. Many commenting on the picture‚ shared on Facebook‚ where outraged‚ labelling this “error” by the company as ignorant.
"Wow! I don’t think it’s meant to be distributed it shows how much ignorant they are. It’s about refusing to be educated about different religions‚ including their own‚" commented Facebook user Zama Pienaar.
"WOOLWORTHS Woolworths Woolworths TASTE Magazine ... that's a disgrace! The disrespect to an entire religion is really on another level!" wrote social media expert Yavi Madurai. In a response to TimesLIVE‚ the retail giant said: “We have investigated and found that this was an implementation error in one store. It was an honest mistake but we have sent a reminder note round to all of our stores to advise of them of the correct ticketing process. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.”