Plan B Forum

The supermarket giant Woolworths has taken down an online Anzac Day campaign in Australia after it attracted strong criticism on social media.



The company had put its logo and the slogan "Fresh in our memories" over customers' pictures of soldiers who fought in World War One. Minister for Veterans' Affairs Michael Ronaldson said he had demanded the company take down the campaign. Woolworths has said it regrets any offence caused.

The row comes as Australia and New Zealand prepare to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings on 25 April 1915.Anzac Day remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand.


The Woolworths website had encouraged visitors to change their social media profile pictures by uploading images of past and present servicemen and servicewomen. The picture generator branded the images with its logo and the words: "Lest We Forget Anzac 1915-2015. Fresh in our memories." Woolworths' slogan in Australia is "The Fresh Food People", but the company denied it was a marketing strategy.

Many visitors to its Facebook page disagreed though. "You manage to stoop to the lowest of lows by using Anzacs in your adds. Get some integrity," one comment read. "Just woke to see just how Australian Woolworths is - a disgrace that this company would use our Anzacs to promote their brand," said another. Other disgruntled consumers created their own versions of the generated images and uploaded them on to social media.


Under Australian law, permission is needed from the government to use the word Anzac in any material. Mr Ronaldson said in a statement: "The Australian community quite rightly expects that the word 'Anzac' is not trivialised or used inappropriately and as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I am responsible for ensuring that any use of the word Anzac does not provide commercial benefit to an organisation. "In this instance, permission was not sought by the campaign proponents, nor would it have been approved. Immediately upon having this campaign brought to my attention, I contacted Woolworths."

The company said in a statement: "The Fresh in Our Memories website has been taken down. The site was developed to give our staff and customers a place to put their stories to mark the centenary of Anzac. "We regret that our branding on the picture generator has caused offence, this was clearly never our intention. Like many heritage Australian companies, we were marking our respect for Anzac and our veterans.

"We continue to be proud supporters of the RSL (Returned and Services League) and Camp Gallipoli in this important year and look forward to working with them into the future."