M&S face fury at their plastic toys giveaway
Chain slammed for handing out ‘free tat’
MARKS & Spencer is facing a backlash after launching a promotion that involves handing out single-use plastic toys at the checkout.
Under the campaign, staff will hand out miniature models of “iconic” foods, such as Percy Pigs, to shoppers who spend £20 in store.
The idea is that children will want to collect and swap the models to build a collection to display in a cardboard shop front.
But environmental campaigners said the decision was out of keeping with customers wanting to cut back on unnecessary plastic.
They claim toys end up in landfill or incinerated after being played with often only once.
Friends of the Earth campaigner Julian Kirby said: “We’re not going to end the scourge of plastic pollution if stores continue to hand out free plastic tat to their customers.
“The public are calling for drastic action on pointless plastic – but firms aren’t listening.
“MPs from all parties are supporting a new law to phase out all but the most essential plastic. The next Prime Minister must give it his backing too.”
Influencer Kate Starkey was offered £100 to share three posts of the M&S toys with her 11,000 Instagram followers but refused to participate.
She said: “Brands need to help consumers make the right decisions not create unnecessary plastic rubbish that will inevitably pollute the environment.”
M&S said: “Our Little Shop collectibles have all been designed to last and a quarter of them are made from recycled card.
“We’ve also ensured all single-use packaging is made from paper instead of plastic.”
It said it was also encouraging customers to “play, give, recycle” to ensure there was no waste.
McDonald’s recently came under pressure from the BBC’s War on Plastic TV series over its freebie toys.
The programme visited an East London recycling facility where thousands of McDonald’s giveaways were found among discarded plastic.
The fast food giant hands out more than 1.4 billion toys a year.
The public are calling for drastic action on plastic JULIAN KIRBY FRIENDS OF THE EARTH