Father slams Lidl for selling 'offensive' Union Jack doormats

Father slams Lidl for selling ‘offensive and disrespectful’ Union Jack doormats because it encourages people to use flag as ‘rag to wipe their feet’

• Chris Dixon, 55, spotted ‘offensive’ mats whilst at a Lidl in Blackpool, Lancashire 
• The father-of-one viewed the Union Jack doormat as disrespect for nation’s flag  
• Mr Dixon was called a ‘gammon’ by social media users after sharing his opinion

A father has slammed Lidl for selling ‘offensive’ Union Jack doormats as he believes they encourage people to use the flag as a ‘rag for wiping their feet’.

Chris Dixon, 55, was doing his weekly shop in the discount store in Blackpool, Lancashire, on Monday, when he came across the novelty doormat in the middle aisle.

The mechanical engineer did a double take when he spotted the red, white and blue coir mat and was repulsed by what he viewed as disrespect for the nation’s flag so took a picture and shared it online.

The father-of-one blasted the item on sale in the Devonshire Road branch as ‘disrespectful and offensive’ claiming it encouraged people to ‘use our nation’s flag as a rag for wiping their feet’. 

The Union Jack doormats available for sale in Blackpool’s Devonshire Road branch of Lidl 

Blood bike volunteer Mr Dixon is urging the store to stop selling the mat but social media users hit back blasting him as a ‘gammon’ – which he admits he didn’t expect but said people were ‘entitled to their own opinion’.

Mr Dixon, from Blackpool, said: ‘I’ve travelled all around the world with work and I think this is the only country that seems to have this hatred for their own national values.

‘In some countries, for instance Saudi, where I’ve worked, or Myanmar if you did that with their flag you’d be in jail.

‘One of the comments on Facebook was ‘well whose flag do you want to wipe your feet on?’ which I thought was a bit of a weird question.

Chris Dixon, 55, was doing his weekly shop in a Lidl in Blackpool, Lancashire, on Monday, when he came across the novelty doormat in the middle aisle

‘I don’t want to wipe my feet on anybody’s flag, the point is to show respect for it.

‘I think this is the only country that seems to have a problem with you actually flying your flag as well.

‘Being exposed to the rest of the world, I’ve seen the different way people respect it rather than the way they do here.

‘I didn’t think I’d get so badly trolled when I put it on Facebook, but people are entitled to their own opinions.’

Mr Dixon’s Facebook post reads: ‘I find the selling of our country’s flag as a doormat to be both disrespectful and offensive.

‘How can you encourage people to use our nation’s flag as a rag for wiping their feet?

Mr Dixon’s Facebook post reads: ‘I find the selling of our country’s flag as a doormat to be both disrespectful and offensive.’

‘I don’t see you encouraging people to wipe their feet on any other flags of the world, why is that?’

While browsing the shelves, Mr Dixon and his Azerbaijani wife spotted the doormat in the ‘Middle of Lidl’ aisle.

Mr Dixon said: ‘I was in Lidl with my wife who’s from Azerbaijan, we were just wandering around doing our usual shop, and funnily enough she was the one who pointed it out.

‘She said “that’s wrong”. I hadn’t seen it at first but when did I said “you’re right it is”.

‘I took the picture and shared it with Lidl just to highlight it, we’re all entitled to our comments.

‘When I was younger it wasn’t that easy to contact a company to say ‘this is wrong’ but social media certainly made that easier.

‘In a way it’s good, in another way it’s bad we now seem to be in a position where the complaints start to get ridiculously bad about things.

‘There was a Lidl comment saying they were going to discuss it with their sales and marketing team.

‘I’d like to see it [the doormat] removed, that’s all.

‘If you go to a different country they’ll burn other countries’ flags as a sign [saying] ‘we do not respect your country’, but we encourage it by turning our flag into a doormat.

‘A lot of people don’t realise it represents your nation, it represents your culture, it represents you as a person.’ 

A Lidl spokesperson said: ‘At Lidl GB, it is never our intention to upset or offend anyone.

‘This product is part of a range that has always been well received by customers, however we are sorry for any offence the customer may have felt and we have passed their comments onto the relevant department for future consideration.’

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