Aussiemite accuses Mumbrella of false reporting and fuelling attacks on its brand and business
‘Challenger’ savoury spread brand Aussiemite has accused Mumbrella, the marketing and media website of publishing “false and misleading” information about its latest campaign, “Sacrilicious”, which has drawn criticism for causing offence to religious groups.
Aussiemite has blamed Mumbrella’s reporting of the criticisms for fuelling an “attack” on their brand and business.
The events unfolded via Twitter, as Aussiemite initially responded in good humour to Tweeters who accused the brand of causing offence with the advert, which positions the snack in the setting of the sacrament.
Mumbrella reported the incident and Aussiemite’s response, Tweeting a link to its story stating: “How not to apologise on social media: AussieMite tells Catholics: Sorry about our deliberately controversial ad”.
The Mumbrella report describes the Aussiemite campaign as “a deliberately controversial ad poking fun at the Catholic Church.”
In a series of Tweets, Aussiemite challenged Mumbrella over its reporting of the events.
“What you have published is incorrect. Please remove the ad as per requested and all false misleading information,” Aussiemite tweeted.
“We have apologised and now take full responsibility for our actions - we are not into blaming others.
“Forget abusive emails and death threats! Our brand and business, along with Grown-ups are now under full attack @mumbrella - great work!
“What a joke - it should read "Come on everyone - lets kick AussieMite whilst they are down!"
It added that the brand was being “subjected to false reports to fuel further attacks!”
Mumbrella’s editor in chief, Tim Burrowes, told The Drum: “I have an excellent shorthand note of all my conversations with the people quoted and stand by our reporting in its entirety.”
The Aussiemite Twitter stream contains dozens of direct replies to tweeters who have expressed offence, and a lengthy explanation has been posted on its Facebook page.
“To all our customers and anyone we may have upset with our ad. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused. It was never the intention to do so, but we recognise that for some it did. We have listened to your comments and removed any and all instances of the campaign from our social media channels,“ it said.
“We are a small family-owned company looking to establish ourselves and a product we believe in and love. We sincerely hope that this will not dissuade you from buying AussieMite in the future.
“Best wishes, AussieMite”
Read The Drum’s exclusive interview with Aussiemite’s Director, Elise Ramsey.