Wallace & Gromit mugs in Scotland?

amanda40

Has anyone seen any over in the Lanarkshire - East Kilbride area - although willing to travel ( for hubbys christmas)

malima

Loads tonight at the 24 hr Tesco at Shettleston.

fluffynit

Spotted this article :mad:


fluffynit

Wallace & Gromit spark storm in a teacup

KATIE EMSLIE

THEY'RE two of Britain's best-loved animated characters, with a huge cult following.

Wallace & Gromit, the eccentric inventor and his worldly-wise dog, have proved a smash hit at the box office and spawned a multi-million pound memorabilia industry.

But the family-friendly characters today unwittingly found themselves at the centre of a cross-Border incident.

For buffs in Scotland eager to collect the most recent Wallace & Gromit paraphernalia have been snubbed in a recent promotion which they claim has discriminated against fans north of the Border.

In England, teabag firm PG Tips is giving away hundreds of limited edition mugs, featuring Gromit, with special 160-bag packs. The collectible dog's nose turns from black to red when it is filled with a hot drink.

Despite being backed with a massive TV marketing campaign shown all over the UK, the company has decided not to extend the promotion to Scotland.

Parent company Unilever has denied it is discriminating against Scots and says the mugs are not available here because its teabags are sold under a different brand in Scotland, namely Scottish Blend.

But the move has outraged young fans of creator Nick Park's cheese-loving Wallace and trusty sidekick Gromit, who are eager to get their hands on the special heat-sensitive mugs.

Colin Wilson, 34, said his four-year-old daughter Bethany had her heart set on owning one after seeing several adverts promoting the product.

He realised something was wrong when he couldn't find the special packs after scouring supermarkets in Edinburgh and Livingston.

Mr Wilson, who lives in Kirknewton, West Lothian, with his wife Helen, Bethany and her 18-month-old sister Rebecca, contacted Unilever to find out where the mugs were on sale in Scotland.

The quality manager said: "Basically, what they told me was that if you don't live in England, you can't get one. I got an e-mail from them saying: 'I am sorry to let you know that the special offer mug is not available in Scotland. I can assure you that no discrimination is intended'.

"I disagree with that - I think it is discriminatory.

"I think it's pretty horrendous that they don't distribute them evenly around the whole of the UK to give everyone an equal chance, especially when the mugs are being advertised on Sky television nationwide. And when I asked if I could buy one direct from them, they said 'No'."

Mr Wilson added that Unilever said it was up to supermarkets to decide where to sell the bags.

"I think that's a wee bit of a cop-out, to be honest.

"If the ads are nationwide, then the products should be on sale UK-wide as well. I'm sure there will be a lot of other people in the same boat as me, too, especially as the ads are shown at times when children are watching TV. "

Mr Wilson, who is originally from Newtonards in Northern Ireland, eventually had to trawl auction website eBay to avoid disappointing his daughter.

He added: "In the end I found a Gromit mug on eBay, although I had to pay nearly twice the price for it - about £9 instead of £4.49 or whatever it was. It was worth it, though, because Bethany's such a huge fan of Wallace & Gromit. We went to see the film together and loved it."

A spokeswoman for Unilever, which sponsored the film Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, apologised to Mr Wilson and other fans in Scotland.

She said: "Obviously, we are sorry that they are not available in Scotland, but PG Tips is not officially sold in Scotland.

"The Unilever tea brand there is Scottish Blend. But because the ads have gone on Sky, it's very difficult for people not to see them. However, it does say on the advertisement 'In selected stores only'.

"As for selling products directly, we don't do that. We sell all our products to retailers, so it is up to them to distribute them."

Macnab

good old tesco's then for selling them, but no wonder they sell out in an instant!

kellyplanet

I managed to pick a few up in Tesco on Shettleston Rd Glasgow. Wish I had bought more now if they are that rare!!!!

poppet1711

Anymore of these around glasgow? I'd just about given up the hunt!

fisheddie

i believe all of them are now gone...

EBAY will be a good place to try... probably more sensible to save the petrol driving around...

mclaren_2

Parent company Unilever has denied it is discriminating against Scots and says the mugs are not available here because its teabags are sold under a different brand in Scotland, namely Scottish Blend.

so why not put them with Scottish Blend? but i have seen "PG Tips" being sold in tesco and asda. Yet again, this is another incident of discrimination........

was looking about for these for the past few weeks anaw..... wanted to get a few, one for ma dd sophie, she loves wallace n gromet, i had her ask me every day for wallace n gromet on dvd for weeks lol.

Shame on pg tips, ill give em a tip, GIVE EM TO SCOTLAND, the ppl who invented basicly everything