Somerfield was left with Easter egg all over its face when its PR department mistakenly told the world that handing out chocolate eggs symbolises "the birth of Jesus."
The Bristol-based supermarket chain has hit the headlines after getting muddled over the meaning of Easter in an advert to promote sales of its chocolate eggs.
Quoting a survey, Somerfield said in a press release that while Britons will spend millions on Easter eggs, many young people do not even know the meaning of the Christian festival.
It was forced to release a correction, citing "the rebirth" of Christ as the reason to buy its products. And in a final, third press release, drafted after consultation with the Church of England, Somefield finally plumped for Easter as the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
"It's a mistake. We hold up our hands to that," said Pete Williams, head of PR. He has referred to himself as the "shame-faced head of PR" at Somerfield and said the member of his team whose mistake appeared to back-up the survey's findings about the public's poor religious knowledge was "very embarrassed."
Ben Wilson, from the Church of England press office, said about the Somerfield release: "It was a genuine mistake, if rather unfortunate."
