No, M&S haven’t ‘just launched’ an LGBT sandwich – it actually came out in 2019
M&S launched an LGBT sandwich in 2019, to a very mixed reception. (Credit: Twitter/ @PumpItLowda)
On 15 April 2024, Heritage Party Leader David Kurten shared a picture of an LGBT sandwich, specifically, an M&S “Lettuce, Guacamole, Bacon and Tomato sandwich, with the caption: “WOKE SANDWICHES”.
The Heritage Party is a right-wing populist and socially conservative political party in the United Kingdom founded by Kurten in 2020, after he left the UK Independence Party.
“Can one not simply get lunch without being reminded of degeneracy and mutilation?” tweeted the pro-life commentator. The photo went viral, with almost 2000 retweets – and was viewed nearly one million times.
However, a community note was added to confirm that the photograph had been digitally manipulated to change the expiry date to 2024, and explained that the original date on the sandwich was 2019.
One person replied: “If you’re so very worked up about a sandwich (that was first introduced in 2019 and was done in support of homeless LGBTQ+ youth), then don’t get one.”
Misinformation has been rife on Elon Musk’s X platform since he took it over and changed its name from Twitter. Reset Australia reported in September 2023 that a feature allowing users to report misinformation was quietly dropped in certain regions of the world.
It described the move as “extremely concerning [and] disastrous” for Australian electoral integrity.
LGBT sandwich history
British supermarket chain Marks and Spencer (M&S) launched a “LGBT” sandwich, filled with lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato in 2019, but it was actually more controversial with LGBTQ+ people than right-wingers.
The pride-themed snack caused a stir with queer social media users, who weren’t sure whether or not they agreed with the concept.
The conversation began when a picture of the sandwich with the caption “M&S threw the first artisanal sandwich at Stonewall,” went viral on Twitter.
The supermarket released the BLT-plus-guacamole sandwich to raise money for the Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity dedicated to helping homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
The retailer said that it raised £10,000 for the charity, and said it would be making a further £1,000 donation to another charity called BeLong to Youth Services in Ireland.
But despite the supermarket’s charitable intentions, some social media users suggested members of the LGBTQ+ community should steal the product from shelves.
“Calling all LGBTs”, a Twitter user called Aaron wrote, “get yourselves down [to] Marks and Spencer and help yourself to a free gay sandwich,” he wrote.
“No need to pay babe, just walk in and take this trash off the shelves,” the tweet read.
After another user notified Aaron of the supermarket’s charity donations, the user explained “it wasn’t evident from the front of the packaging,” and he claimed the sandwich made him feel “enraged.”
“Equating us to a sandwich?,” another tweet said, “I can’t imagine them doing this with other marginalised groups.”
Other people on the social network pointed out the (at the time) steep pricing of the LGBTQ+ product.
“€4.50 for a blt with guac?” one person replied, “I guess they’re hoping gays really have expensive taste,” they added.
While another person noted the high salt content of the sandwich.
“Deffo an LGBT sandwich,” Rob wrote, “gays are notoriously salty.”
Other members of the LGBTQ+ community commented that the sandwich could be more inclusive of vegetarians, suggesting alternatives.
“M&S throwing the entire lesbian community under the bus [with] the bacon,” one person wrote, while another said: “maybe you could try some alternatives for the bisexual, beetroot, bread, broccoli?”
The Albert Kennedy Trust replied to some of the negativity and said: “akt is proud have the support of brands like Marks and Spencer, as without it, we couldn’t do what we do.”
“If you’re not a sandwich fan but would like to help, learn how you can support us [on our website],” the charity wrote in a tweet.
The supermarket made a statement which said: “M&S Food is showing their support of the pride season and have this year launched a special LGBTQ+ sandwich – a twist on the traditional BLT.”
Populist broadcaster Piers Morgan also stuck the boot into M&S at the time.
Morgan accused M&S of “cynical virtue-signalling” and “truly pathetic” behaviour in a Twitter rant, saying: “Gay sandwiches? Is there no cynical virtue-signalling depth struggling companies won’t now plunge to make a profit? Shame on you marksandspencer, this is truly pathetic.”
Morgan also shared a post from journalist Louis Staples, who criticised the M&S sandwich in a tweet that has been retweeted nearly 10,000 times.
Staples wrote: “LGBT people: ‘it’d be nice if people could stop abusing us when we hold hands in public, we could teach LGBT lessons in schools and if the BBC could stop debating our existence on live air that’d be grea- Capitalism: ‘what we’re really sensing here is you want your own sandwich.’”
