Halfords sorry for ‘poor taste’ Easter message

HALFORDS has apologised after it sent an email to customers which urged them to “nail their projects” over Easter.

The email was taken by many to be a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus at Golgotha, marked yesterday by Christians in Good Friday services around the country.

One Twitter user described the email as “in very poor taste”, while another asked if the company would “be so blunt about Mohammed”.

A spokesman for Halfords said that the email had been sent “in error” and that the reference to the crucifixion had been unintentional.

“We sent an email to our DIY database last week with an inappropriate title for Easter,” she said. “We did not intend to cause any offence, and would like to take the opportunity to apologise for any upset.

“As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we immediately stopped any further activity.”

It is understood that the email was only sent to customers on a database for promoting the firm’s “workshop” products, which are for home DIY.

Canon Dr Chris Sugden, who writes for Anglican Mainstream, a Christian blog, said it was “good that people spotted a problem with this rather crude piece of advertising”.

“But Halfords have apologised and Jesus’ death on Good Friday teaches us to forgive as we have been forgiven,” he said.

Halfords’ mistake is the latest in a series of Easter-related PR controversies. Earlier this week, Sainsbury’s revealed that it preferred the term “chocolate eggs” to “Easter eggs” on its packaging.