Marks & Spencer just unveiled a new cronut-style pastry for the Christmas season, but it’s not the “delicious flaky layers” that’s winning attention on social media.
It’s the name: Santa’s Yumnut.
The British retailer’s tweet introducing the pastry also sounded a little… um… well… just check it out:
Who wants a bite of Santa’s Yumnut™? Our yum yum-doughnut hybrids have been given a Christmassy makeover, with delicious flaky pastry layers and a sweet Santa’s belt topping. Find them in our in store bakery. pic.twitter.com/BcWwxOo26r
— M&S (@marksandspencer) November 5, 2020
Marks & Spencer has a history with this sort of stuff; they offered a “love sausage” for Valentine’s Day and an Easter Bunny doing yoga that some thought looked a little suggestive. Then there was the ad saying they “put the D in bread” (as in vitamin D, what were YOU thinking???).
The offer to take a bite of Santa’s Yumnut, however, was just too much for Twitter users to take:
You’ve got to hand it to M&S – it was going to take a hell of a marketing message to disrupt the Twitter conversation today, but Santa’s yumnuts have achieved it https://t.co/mZWeM9wDQb
— Keith Stuart (@keefstuart) November 5, 2020
Meanwhile, one of UK’s largest retailers has decided that a winning seasonal slogan is “Who wants a bite of Santa’s Yumnut?” https://t.co/nFQvOyZyTz
— Doug Saunders (@DougSaunders) November 5, 2020
As someone who’s worked with trademarks before, I know that about 7,000 people saw and approved the phrase “Santa’s Yumnut™” before this post went live. https://t.co/6xKUiF8lkV
— The Wisconsin Recount Decider (@justinpie) November 5, 2020