A complaint about sexual imagery on a sweet wrapper has proved to be genuine after journalists suggested it had been created as a PR stunt.
The complaint against Pontefract-based sweet manufacturere Maoam appeared in the Daily Mail. It came from a man, also from Pontefract, who claimed that the packaging appeared to show two pieces of cartoon fruit "locked in a carnal encounter".
Due to the man's location, the unintentionally humorous language used in the letter and to the fact that Maoam are currently running a sampling campaign for a new product, some hacks thought that they could smell a rat rather than lemon and lime.
However, it has since emerged that Maoam have also received an email from the writer of the letter and have handled it as they would any other complaint.
Now that the letter has been shown to be genuine, it will have to be seen whether the boycott the complainant threatened to organise goes ahead and whether or not Maoam come under pressure to change offending packaging.
This story highlights the fact that the first instinct of many journalists is to be suspicious of the facts surrounding a story and to be on the lookout for any hint of something more going on. Those considering employing publicity stunts should be careful; you might end up with egg, or lime in this case, on your face.
Paul
hello@octopuspr.co.uk 
01785
229530 
