We're not sure if a sandwich has ever received so much attention ...
(Image source: midlandszone.co.uk)Marks and Spencer has released a limited edition sandwich, to celebrate Pride Month.
According to the Irish Examiner, M&S have added guacamole to their BLT and renamed it LGBT, as a nod to the LGBTQI+ community.
LGBTQI+ Pride Month began as a means of commemorating the Stonewall riots, which occurred in New York City at the end of June 1969.
The supermarket chain has assured customers that it will donate funds to charities that support the community - including £10,000 to Act (a youth homelessness charity in the UK for LGBTQ+ people) and €1000 to an Irish LGBTI+ charity, BeLongTo.
Backlash
Many people are criticising M&S, however, calling it an act of tokenism from a multimillion pound company.
The sandwich has garnered a strong reaction - with people taking to social media, claiming the chain is trying exploiting the LGBTQI+ community and trying to cash in on the ‘pink pound’.
The ever-controversial Piers Morgan has weighed in on the debate.
The Good Morning Britain host voiced his distaste by branding the sandwich "pathetic":
Hi Piers. We have given our popular BLT sandwich a twist to celebrate Pride and raise £10,000 for akt the national LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness charity.
— M&S (@marksandspencer) May 4, 2019
But others have been welcoming the company's efforts to raise awareness and funds:
If you are exercised by the M&S LGBT sandwich, or indeed any other corporate entity participating in Pride, then you haven’t met enough of the people helped by the money these things raise. Kids disowned by parents, malnourished folk with HIV, that kind of thing. So lighten up.
— Darren Styles OBE (@bydarrenstyles) May 4, 2019
