Walkers advert showed Lineker being covered in wet concrete
Walkers Crisps has pulled an advert featuring Gary Lineker being covered in wet concrete, after construction union Ucatt slammed it as 鈥渋nsensitive and offensive鈥�, after it aired on the same day that an inquiry began into the death of worker Rene Tkacik on a Crossrail site from concrete falling on him last March.
The advert aired on Monday night (February 23) during the final episode of Broadchurch and showed ex-footballer Lineker having wet concrete poured on him from a great height as he refused to share his crisps.
The advert coincided with the opening of the inquest into the death of Rene Tkacik, who was killed on 7 March 2014 on Crossrail when concrete fell on him.
Steve Murphy, general secretary of Ucatt, said: 鈥淭his advert is extremely insensitive and offensive. There is nothing amusing about accidents on construction sites and the timing of the advert could not have been worse. If Walkers have a social conscience they should remove the advert and immediately apologise to Tkacik鈥檚 family.
鈥淩ather than make fun of the dangers faced daily by workers on construction sites perhaps the media should ask itself why when a worker is killed, these tragedies are often ignored. Construction deaths and accidents should not be considered an occupational hazard.鈥�
A spokesperson for Walkers said: 鈥淎s soon as we were made aware of this issue we immediately took the decision to stop running this advert. We did not set out to cause offence and sincerely apologise for any upset that may have been caused.鈥�
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