TV presenter Fern Britton has taken aim at Marks and Spencer over its World Cup sticker album, accusing the retailer of incompetence or running a scam. The supermarket has teamed up with Panini and the Football Association to launch an official England sticker collection ahead of the tournament.
How the Promotion Works
Shoppers who spend more than £20 receive a free pack of stickers, and the album costs £3. There are 50 stickers to collect, featuring men's and women's players, managers, training pictures, and shiny specials. However, a shortage of the albums has left families with stacks of stickers but no book to display them.
Fern Britton's Rant
Fern, who used to co-host This Morning with Philip Schofield, shared a video on social media expressing her frustration. "I'm not much of a ranter, but I'm really disappointed with Marks and Spencer and their blinking Panini magazines to put the stickers in," she said. "Down here in Cornwall, I haven't seen anybody with a sticker magazine. We can get the stickers – of course once every time you spend 20 quid you get a packet – so I've got 13 packets now, spent a great deal of money, and there's no blinking books to pack them into."
She added that a customer service representative told her no more albums would be reprinted. "There clearly wasn't enough to go around," she said. "Either someone was incredibly incompetent, or it's a scam to boost food sales. Which is it?"
Shoppers Share Similar Experiences
More than 250 people responded to her video, echoing the same problem. One said: "Yep, no books in Newcastle. Been doing all my shopping in M&S just to get more stickers in the hope they would get more books. Spent a fortune. Scam!!!!" Another commented: "I managed to get two lots of stickers for my grandsons. Did a big shop, but they'd run out of both stickers and albums, yet the window display was advertising the free stickers. Definitely not good enough."
M&S Response
When announcing the album last month, M&S said: "There's a limited-edition England exclusive album available to buy for just £3! Spend £20 and you'll bag a free pack of four stickers." A spokesperson now says: "Customers are loving collecting and swapping our Panini football stickers. Despite having significantly more in stock than in previous years, albums have been flying off the shelves. We still have a strong supply of stickers." However, as the albums were only available 'while stocks last', there will be no restocks.
