Bill ‘Santa’ Oddie Delivers Bag of Coal to ‘Naughty’ Fortnum & Mason
Much-loved wildlife expert Bill Oddie made an unexpected appearance at Fortnum & Mason’s Christmas window unveiling today dressed as Santa Claus to call on Fortnum & Mason to be good, for goodness’ sake, and stop selling foie gras! Oddie stunned shoppers as he loudly explained that Fortnum & Mason pays producers in France to force-feed geese until their livers become grossly enlarged so that Fortnum & Mason can sell the “torture in a tin”. Oddie also delivered a bag of coal for Managing Director Beverley Aspinall, to whom he wrote in September after she ignorantly claimed that force-feeding geese was comparable to large birds’ swallowing fish in the wild.
“It’s not just ‘naughty’ for Fortnum & Mason to keep selling a product so cruel that it’s illegal to produce in the UK – it’s shameful”, says Oddie. “All I want for Christmas is for Fortnum & Mason to pull foie gras from its shelves, once and for all.”
To produce foie gras, pipes are shoved down the throats of geese and ducks several times a day. Grain and fat is pumped into the birds’ stomachs until their livers become diseased and swollen. Fortnum & Mason’s main competitors – Selfridges and Harvey Nichols – have both stopped selling foie gras completely.
Oddie is one of a long list of prominent figures – including Sir Roger Moore, Ricky Gervais, the Duchess of Hamilton, Twiggy, Jenny Seagrove, Carley Stenson, Peter Egan and Owain Yeoman – who have appealed to Fortnum & Mason to pull foie gras from its shelves.
Please join Oddie in saying “Ho, ho – NO!” to Fortnum & Mason’s sale of foie gras and e-mail the store today.
Foie gras is cruelty for additional profits. How kind F&M are (NOT). Do the right thing F&M, join the good guys and stop selling cruelty.
I’ll go along with this. No food is that important, that an animal needs to suffer so we can eat it. Come on!
Love it!!
What a horrid woman that Managing director is.Let’s force feed her,then and see how she likes it. Unbeleivable!!
If just one individual refrains from buying this barbaric product then the campaign can be deemed a success. Well done Bill Oddie for raising public awareness on this horrific and unnecessary practice.
Most of all, apart from the efforts from these wonderful people who use their image to promote the campaign , is that consumers stop buying a horrible thing that I personally don’t believe has such a good taste .
as a vegan im against all animal cruelty like foir gras your a goodie bill
Thanks, I have a weekend in london next month for Christmas shopping, was planning to go to F&m. I will now give them a miss. Shame on F&M
It is really weird, that such a cruelity is allowed in a civilized european country.
Thank you Bill Oddie for protesting against this barbaric practice. I am so proud of you.
SHAME ON YOU!
I had no idea Selfridges had stopped selling Foie gras. Let’s hope they don’t sell real fur anymore either. Good for you Bill Oddie!! Keep it up!
LOL The reality is that F&M got wind of PETA’s plans to hijack their Christmas window launch and when your troops plus Mr Oddie arrived, the media had been and gone (so you got no publicity except this blog post). Starved of the free publicity your crave, your stunt failed and your campaigners slunk away hoping no one would notice. The lesson here – loose lips sink ships.
That’s so funny..!
Wait.. but when you search for “Fortnum & Mason Christmas Window Unveiling”.. all I can find is PETA..
http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&safe=off&nord=1&site=webhp&source=hp&q=%22Fortnum+%26+Mason+Christmas+window+unveiling%22&pbx=1&oq=%22Fortnum+%26+Mason+Christmas+window+unveiling%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=0l0l0l2272l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=63821f65e63499b5&biw=1366&bih=610
And even “Fortnum & Mason Christmas Window” has nothing there for Fortnum & Mason..
http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&safe=off&nord=1&site=webhp&source=hp&q=%22Fortnum+%26+Mason+Christmas+window%22&pbx=1&oq=%22Fortnum+%26+Mason+Christmas+window%22&aq=f&aqi=g-v1g-j1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=5424l6472l3l6699l7l3l4l0l0l0l196l438l1.2l6l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=63821f65e63499b5&biw=1366&bih=610
Hmm, so I don’t get your point, where did Fortnum & Mason get publicity?
And I hope you’re not a senior Fortnum & Mason employee with such dreadful grammar!
Because you are an employee there aren’t you?
There is of course, one way to make this all go away Paul.. drop foie gras from Fortnum & Mason – dragging your heels is just going to get you even more adverse publicity.
thanks santa.
The duck paste eaters argument is most of us eat animals and most of earths animals suffer in one way or another at the hands of humans. I suppose the only people qualified to complain about the vulgarity of eating a food that has been harvested so cruelly are veggies and vegans. Although unqualified I think knowing an animal has been so cruelly reared for duck paste or veal, to eat said animal makes you a selfish, uncaring individual.
Good on you Bill Oddie. It would be good if more of us did this sort of thing. I would never shop at F&M except if they stop supporting this vile way of eating. Love you Bill.
Well done people. We never give up and we always win.
STOP SELLING IT! thats all.
Stop selling it
[...] BBC wildlife presenter Bill Oddie has condemned the BBC for promoting cruelly produced foie gras on BBC Two’s Great British [...]