Mel B says Tesco advert complaint was 'miscommunication' and praises supermarket for donating to Women's Aid
Mel B has explained that “miscommunication” with Tesco led to her complaining to the supermarket regarding the use of her image in an advert.
On Tuesday, Tesco removed an advert for its new Clubcard Plus which featured a photograph of the singer after she voiced her objections on Instagram.
The image included was taken during the 1997 Spice Girls performance at the Brit Awards, and was accompanied by two speech bubbles, which read: “Stop right now. You get 10 per cent off two big shops a month for £7.99. Thank you very much,” a play on the lyrics of the hit Spice Girls song “Stop”.
Now, Mel B has now clarified her earlier post, revealing that she never had an issue with Tesco using her image.
“For the record, I just want to let everyone know about my Tesco Clubcard Plus involvement because there has been soo much fuss about it and soo many unfounded rumours [sic],” the singer wrote alongside a photograph of the original advert.
A post shared by Scary Spice Mel b (@officialmelb) on Nov 12, 2019 at 9:13am PST
“There was NEVER any issue about me being unhappy with my image being used and there was NEVER any issue about Tesco being given permission to use the image.”
Mel B went on to say that she agreed to the campaign to help raise awareness and money for domestic violence charity Women’s Aid after it recently lost funding.
“There was a miscommunication between some of the parties dealing with it but luckily Tesco has been amazing,” Mel B continued, adding that the supermarket has agreed to match her donation to the charity.
“I’m really pleased that Tesco understands how important Women’s Aid is to me. This money is a game-changer for them. It will keep their live chat line running for the next six months and all over Christmas,” Mel B wrote.
“This service literally saves lives. One in four women are affected by domestic violence. I am never going to stop trying to help. Thank you Tesco.”
The singer has previously spoken about being in an abusive relationship with film producer Stephen Belafonte, who she divorced in 2016 prior to filing a restraining order against him, accusing him of physical, verbal and psychological abuse. A domestic violence trial was settled out of court in 2017.
Mel B originally used her Instagram account to ask Tesco's CEO to contact her “urgently” regarding the advert.
Following the post, a spokesperson for Tesco said they were “excited” for Mel B to be included in the advert but had removed it as the singer was “unhappy”.
“Here at Tesco we are really big fans of Mel B and were excited to feature her photo in our campaign,” the spokesperson said.
"We had authorisation to use this image, but we're sorry Mel B is unhappy so we've stopped using it."
The advert was part of Tesco's latest campaign, which pays homage to cultural references from the past century for its 100th anniversary with the tagline: "Prices that take you back."
Can the CEO OF @tescofood DAVE LEWIS PLEASE CONTACT ME URGENTLY. Thank you.
A post shared by Scary Spice Mel b (@officialmelb) on Nov 11, 2019 at 7:00am PST
Other celebrities, including Morecambe and Wise, have also been used in the campaign.
The comedy duo replaced Mel B on Tesco's Twitter banner on Monday evening.
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