Snickers under fire over tweets comparing Welsh language to ‘sitting on a keyboard’
The company Snickers is under fire after their UK Twitter account published and then deleted tweets saying the Welsh language read as if “someone sat on a keyboard”.
The Snickers UK Twitter account tweeted out: “A place in Wales or someone sat on a keyboard?” It then tweeted out Welsh place names including Penmaenmawr and the incorrectly spelt ‘Rhosullanrugog’.
The company came under fire with one customer advising them to “rethink this – there are three million of us that you’re about to lose as customers”.
Elfyn Henderson asked: “Not targetting the Welsh market then?”
Adam Davis also replied: “Get rid of whoever thought this was a good idea. They’re a moron.”
The tweets were published just before 12pm and then quickly deleted, and an apology was published at 2am.
‘No joke’
The apology read: “From everyone at Snickers UK we’re sorry to everyone offended by our last tweet, we totally misjudged it and hold our hands up for that.
“We are hugely and wholeheartedly thankful for all our Welsh fans in the UK and all over the world, and promise not to let ill-informed Tweets ruin this relationship any further.”
The Snickers UK account had earlier posted a reply in response to one of the complaints saying: “We were feeling a little hungry at the time. Of course, we love the Welsh. Lunchtime couldn’t come sooner for us.”
They replied to another user with: “We clearly weren’t acting ourselves on this one.”
Cerith D. Rhys Jones replied by saying: “Don’t make a joke out of it. It may seem little to you but we get this sort of thing all the time.
“I’m currently also hungry but I don’t go around doing stupid and offensive stuff like this. Apologise.”
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This really isn’t that bad is it?
Yes it is if, you belive it is not you are not a cymro.
Ok, thanks for the well constructed response…
Across Britain we lovingly mock each other. For better or for worse, this is one of the things that comes up frequently about us. Why do people have to be so sensitive about this? It’s clearly a joke (although not very original). As I said, it really isn’t that bad. I literally don’t know anybody who would actually be offended by this.
You’re in denial, mate.
is not denial, is desevern!
Well I am for one speak for yourself not me if they take the p**s out of every other language in the world on a weekly basis that’s fine but they haven’t have they
Oh I know lots of people who find everyday racism offensive
Being Welsh is a privilege that only other celts understand. The english mine owners tried to take our language away so we don’t need a snide confectionary company trying again 100 years on #yma o hyd
You’ve obviously never been to Wales ?
Howell, it’s not your place to be giving out Welshness certificates. Come on now.
It is bad. You have to imagine getting the same ignorant jokes over and over all your life. Then you have to combine that with the realisation that these jokes are tied in with a long history of oppression. Basically you have to have a bit of empathy. Sorry
Several points: firstly, this is a sore point lately with the Welsh language being criticised in several places including the guardian. Secondly there’s a lot of history here, with the Welsh never having been impressed with the “banter”. Thirdly though, and most importantly, if someone finds it offensive (let alone a whole nation) then it’s offensive. Telling them to take it as a joke is equally not okay.
Yes it is because it’s yet another example of arrogance and condescension to Wales, the Welsh, and the Welsh Language! If this sort of remark was made about places in Africa, like Ouagadougou, Bujumbura etc. it would immediately be seen for what it is: RACISM!
I live in Wales so don’t count me if someone has a joke to make about a place name. Laugh with them. For what it’s worth though I have not purchased one of their products since that name was changed from the original to its present day ridiculous name.
“Who cares if a huge conglomerate tried to make fun of the language of the place I live. Laugh with it. But if they dare change the name of their own product, I’m not buying their chocolate for 30 years”
Stupidity at her best
Exactly , what a ridiculous name change, Snickers
Reminds me of when i was a young boy getting caught short.
Exactly what this company has now.
David spain
I’m a proud, confident, passionate Welsh speaker. This means that I can have a laugh at the idiosyncratic or outwardly alien aspects of my culture. Is every accent in Wales a beautiful, sing-songy way of improving the spoken word? Nope. Is every poem composed in the language of heaven written by a bardd possessed by the glorious spirit of awen? Nope. We must have the confidence to mock and criticise what is silly, or corrupt or downright rubbish in our own culture. However, It’s when claims of ‘utility’ (or lack thereof) start creeping in that I get a bit wary.… Read more »
The Irish didn’t escape being the butt of jokes because they became an independent company, and until the 80s jokes diminishing the Irish were part of mainstream humour. However, many in the large Irish community in the UK started to object, and I distinctly remember a BBC Open Door programme made about the subject by an Irish community group in Birmingham challenging the notion that it was all just a bit of harmless fun. At the time many Irish people also laughed along with everyone else, but it became obvious that many laughed merely for forms sake, and their deeply… Read more »
Thanks for the response, sibrydion. A lot of value in the above statement. Let me clarify a few bits and bobs regarding my position. Firstly regarding my comment about the slow dissipation of ‘the stupid/sneaky/sub-human’ Irish jokes. I did not mean to suggest that independence happened then *boom* no more jokes, but surely you must concede that the status of Ireland as a sovereign nation had some effect on this phenomenon? Look at Victorian era cartoons and newspaper articles, how were the Irish depicted then? They may still be in such a position if, as you said yourself, the ‘Irish… Read more »
Mrs Browns Boys.
You are so wrong. Wales and the language is beautiful and around long before the Anglo Saxon english.
Not sure is you responded to the correct comment here Stephen. But yes, Welsh has been on this island longer and yes, it is very beautiful. Check out ‘English and Welsh’, a great essay by JRR Tolkien. We have a language chock full of cellar doors…
The English have been far from sensitive in wielding power over the Welsh, as is demonstrated by consistent English mockery of the Welsh over the centuries. Tribalism of the past continues into the present. Mockery was well entrenched in the Tudor era and was recognized by Shakespeare. He is said to have been familiar with both the lowly Welsh cattle drovers passing through Stratford and also the Welsh grandees who had benefitted from the Tudor courts. Even the grandees had not been completely transformed into being English, so he mocked their manners, language, temperament and outmoded attitudes, and offered the… Read more »
Agree with all that, but didn’t Daffydd ap Gwilym regard the English with tongue in cheek? And don’t Anglos themselves regard some as “Chavs”, first used by Uppers down their noses at ordinary Cheltenham people and now ordinary people regard others as Chavs, so it goes. Try and get a phone booking somewhere if you have a strong Liverpudlian accent…good luck with that! Still, we shouldn’t accept it at all and should kick back!! Having said that, I posted here about a year ago that it would be great if our schools took Oxford accent Elocution lessons? This was not… Read more »
We must hit back. I have 3 degrees from Oxford (yes, Jesus College)…and was briefly a member of Cymdeithas Dafydd ap Gwilym but my Welsh was not good enough. Don’t recall his attitude towards the English. He was all about seducing young women and men too at times….although evidence for that is under lock and key at the National Library of Wales, or so I am told :). I can do a great Oxford accent but only after a few g&t’s.
In the birch thickets generally, but this is very modern, Sir Elton and all that ?
Yes, hit back!!
The reference to Matthew Arnold is very apt, Meurig. Arnold seems to have genuinely believed that English culture and language was superior to all others, and it’s likely that he sincerely felt that he was doing Cymru a favour by advocating the extinction of the Welsh language. He certainly betrays this misconception in his (premature) celebrating of the the death of Cornish. My belief is that many in England, the Snickers idiots included, approach the Welsh language with the same attitude as Arnold: “Do yourselves a favour, Welsh people, dump your language and embrace English; then you’ll be as good… Read more »
Some comments: Dilys Davies, a Welsh speaking clinical psychologist, appears to be the only psychologist to have have analyzed Welsh identity in the context of colonial domination. She identified the following characteristics of oppressed people: passive, sense of inferiority, lack of confidence, avoid taking risks, frightened to criticize, failure to challenge authority, failure to take initiative in politics or business, deep denial and avoidance of discussion of controversial issues, taboo against self-promotion. Dafydd Wigley, twice leader of Plaid Cymru, referred to Wales’ lethargy and dependency culture. Adam Price has pointed out that there is a tendency of the oppressed to… Read more »
Agreed. I’ve always sensed that the adoption of an RP accent by Welsh people is a sign of their feeling of national inferiority.
I think that is likely to be the case today, but it could also be that in a community that had been recently monoglot Welsh, the English would have been a language consciously learned as a second language, whereas perhaps in areas nearer the border, people grew up exposed to both languages over a longer period of time, and the exposure to English was that of ordinary people. Thus the English spoken by someone in a part of Wales where English had been spoken for a longer period of time would be more accented, from an RP speakers point of… Read more »
For instance in Cornwall, see Survey of English Dialects Altarnun
SED Gwinear
That isn’t to say that there aren’t Welsh speakers who have an RP accent through upbringing, of course, and it’s not contrived. I met one recently, nice girl.
Hi Rhosddu – unrelated footnote. As a child growing up in Llantrisant friends of my mother would comment on my strange accent. Born in Cardiff lived my entire childhood in Llan., got dragged off to Cymanfa every year and chapel every sunday (90% welsh sermons!). I have always spoken with an R.P. accent – don’t know where it came from. I was even known by the nickname BBC. But when I siarad Cymraeg I sound as Welsh as you like. (I wonder if I watched too many RKO radio pictures and Noel coward etc. as a young child?).
That’s quite fascinating John. The well-spoken girl I met on the train was from the Cardiff area, too; unlike yourself, she spoke fluent Welsh with a BBC accent. Vive la difference! As for me, learning Welsh as an adult seems to have made my pronunciation of English more Welsh even than before.
Clear English, not posh, and I can assure you that I really did have to resort to subtitles.
If anyone remembers Peter Seller’s patrician accent with the Goons, I don’t mean that.
And, on Talfryn Thomas’s grave, I’m giggling now just thinking of it!!
I agree that comments like this are not only disrespectful to the Welsh people and language and totally out-of-order. The people of Wales could hit back by not buying any of the products made by Mars, the parent American corporation. Remember how the sales of the ‘Sun’ were hit by the non-purchase of the dreadful newspaper by the people of Liverpool after the Hillsburgh article and al these years later it is still not bought in Liverpool!!!
3 million? Well you can knock one off that because I will still be buying Snickers. I am Welsh and very proud to be so but when people need tax payers money for improved health along with flood victims, the Welsh language is a luxury we can I’ll afford.
Paul, your daft comment isn’t helped by your poor English spelling (or maybe poor proofreading, or poor keyboard skills). Either way, we have learned a lot about you and your views. Thanks for sharing.
Equally says alot about you also Gwyn. I could have taken more time yes, I could have even used spell checker. However I am very dyslexic and dont feel the need to cover it up, or hide from the fact. My guess is you are no doubt a nationalist yet another expense the tax payer can ill afford. Anyway not withstanding my dyslexia, why is my opinion that the Welsh language being an unnecessary expense so daft? Is it simply because you dont agree with it???
Gwyn, why not write your posts in Welsh if you are that passionate. Of course not, no point most of us Welsh would not have a clue as to what you were writing, which sort of proves my point regarding unnecessary expense to the tax payer.
Paul, You’re not a true blood Welsh man, in fact you are a disgrace.
And a troll.
By the sounds of it Paul you don’t have a problem with the luxury of Trident and HS2
I do has it happens. These deterrents have kept the peace
Sorry I dont have a problem with Trident but I do with HS2, but that’s another story for another day
Paul why is the Welsh language a luxury? Surely it is the English language that is an unnecessary luxury
Haha unfortunately Elwyn I think they’re both necessary
Because most people who speak Welsh can also speak English, having bilingual bills and signs etc is simply to expensive.
You’re a dying breed, and unrepresentative of majority Welsh opinion, but of course you’re entitled to your opinion. However, the kind of Wales that you would like to see is just not going to happen, so I think you’re in for a pretty miserable time.
Also, could you do us all the kindness of stopping changing your alias in order to fool commentators into thinking you’re not a lone voice?
Thank you but I’m really not sure what you mean by your last paragraph?
Not in the near future I would agree. That said just about every European language uses English to communicate when conducting business. A German undertaking business with a Dane communicates in English. 100 years from now I believe some European languages will struggle let alone Welsh
A lot of Danes speak German so I doubt that your assumption that the default is to switch to English.
The thing is you don’t get Germans bullying Danes to dump Danish as the language Denmark and switch to German.
Never mind the absurdity that Danes would do the same.
I don’t know whether you consider yourself as Welsh or English but you have either adopted the role of bullying Englishman or absurd Welshman.
The universal language of business worldwide. I’m afraid I dont follow your argument? Not to mention of course nearly all the posts on here are in English. Why, because most of us Welsh would not have a clue as to what we were reading otherwise.
It’s an English language website, but of course individuals are free to comment in Welsh here, and some occasionally do.
Are you actually Welsh?
Don’t waste any more time on him. He’s definitely a troll, and for some reason he’s very bitter, and can’t seem to progress beyond one-line put-downs with no evidence to back it up. He knows his attitude is become outdated, but can’t seem to let go. He’s now claiming, for the first time, that he’s Welsh, but the likelihood is he’s not. A quick tap on the down arrow and then let him witter on while we all get on with our lives. Hwyl!
The English language being the one you fail to execute correctly. Enjoy your Snicker and read your Sun
I really think we need to get more confident about our language. I was always very proud of this ad we did at Visit Wales. The welsh language is percious but we shouldn’t be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1rzRXI-qRA
‘The tweets were published just before 12pm and then quickly deleted, and an apology was published at 2am.’
Not in the course of the office working day, then!
I suspect that’s where the clue lies.
Well spotted!!
it’s not the joke in itself which is the issue, it’s the fact that casual xenophobia directed towards the welsh seems to be okay.
I’m a valley’s boy way up the Rhondda I dont see what the problem is. It’s a joke!!
One I found quite funny too . If we cant laugh at ourselves then we have no right to laugh at anyone
Love you guys down there, my mrs from Mountain ash, I’m from Cumbria, home from home
Quite right, but there is a big difference between you guys and those in the North
The only offensive thing about this is how poor a joke it is tbh.
A bit of a lame joke, mildly funny. As a Welshman I can accept it’s a bit of a p**s-take, without getting my arse in my hand over it. It shows the creator’s lack of judgement. If he’d said it in the pub with his Welsh mates it would have been fine, cos we can laugh at ourselves. He should have chosen his audience more wisely. But would it stop me from eating snickers? Nope…as long as they continue on offer at 4 for a quid. Lol.
Congratulations Mars, your casual xenophobia has now cost you a customer. As a self-certified chocoholic it might even save me a few of your English pounds as well.
It’s a shame as I quite like Mars and Galaxy chocolates, but now no more.
Just deleting the tweets and tweeting an apology at 2am in the hope nobody saw it just isn’t good enough.
I’m 100% with you on that Brawdd
Welsh people have a name for being touchy and ill-humoured and this sort of b******s reinforces it. Take a day off being offended like.
Oh well I never liked Snickers anyway rubbish chocolate bar so I won’t miss it
My first head teacher was Welsh, just on the point of retirement when I started school (Welsh borders) I remember with huge sadness him telling me how, as a little boy, he’d been caned if any teacher heard him speaking his native language in the playground…that’s just one of the many reasons this tweet was so ridiculously awful.
Snowflakes I’m welsh do I really care get a sense of humour
Absolutely
Glad to see you recovered from your dyslexia
It’s got nothing to do with having a sense of humour, Most of us in Wales have a sense of humour but we are also very proud of our heritage, history and our language.
You do not come across as a person who has none of my stated characteristics.
Feel free to prove me wrong.
You are an idealist Darren. You make incorrect judgements on over peoples character founded on your own assumptions purely based on the basis that someone has a different opinion to yourself. I am Welsh born and bred here I have a basic understanding of my language not fluent by any means. Like you I am not an idealist more a realist and when I see people suffering every day within our NHS waiting for operations and a spare bed I can see that the money spent on promoting a language that is nothing other than based on pride is nonsensical.… Read more »
the welsh language is not a luxury or a vanity. It is not foolish pride. It is one of the oldest living languages in Europe, a vital core to the history of Britain not just Wales. To some it is their day to day tongue by birth and we have a legal right thank you to be treated equally. We should be able to support language, health care and disaster support but austerity is used as a divisive measure. I highly recommend you try to fall back in love with your mother tongue.
At last, a constructive argument, to which the answer is: It goes without saying that public health, and flood relief, would always take precedent over the safeguarding and development of the language of this country, if it were a question of making a financial choice. Fortunately, it isn’t. If you wanted a list of projects that are of no use to Cymru but which have large somes of money wasted on them, I can give it to you. Had you adopted a less abrasive and dismissive tone in the first place, by describing the language of your own country as… Read more »
OK so written Welsh does look like some fat arse sat on a typewriter ! So what ? Grow up and stop taking yourselves so damned seriously ! What about English spelling ? Looks like a party of Celtic,Franco,Saxons had a drunken brawl trying to play Scrabble !
The trend of companies using social media to make “funny and relatable” jokes that massively backfire is just one aspect of the late stage capitalist hell hole we currently live in. It makes me sick to my core.
Oh dear. Life’s so short and one day we’ll all be dead, then who cares what anyone said or did? How about we all be friends and take silly remarks on the chin and laugh.
.
Being half-English, half-Welsh, red haired, and raised in Shrewsbury, these are the kinds of thread that make me feel genuinely culturally homeless. I grew up surrounded by English who learned that my mother’s family were Welsh and who made all of the “sat on a keyboard” or sheep-related jokes that one might expect. I was certainly never one of them. My mother would chastise me until I got the correct pronunciation of place names in a language that I had no opportunity to practice. She made me wear a daffodil on St David’s Day. On the other hand, I go… Read more »
To be fair, a keyboard does have more letters than just l, w and y…
Perhaps if Mars produce a special edition branded as Snicwrs with a suitably green and red colour scheme they may be forgiven.
Ideally they would use hazelnuts rather than peanuts because currently i am having to scour every Polish sklep in Wrexham to find the hazelnut version and they arent in stock very often!
Snickers, some people look for things to be offended by, you’re better off without them as customers. Im welsh by the way
Just a thought – Snickers, a chocolate bar that looks like it might have been extruded through an a******e, possibly the same a******e that issued the offending Tweet !
This juvenile quip, serves to remind us of the problems anglophiles still have with other cultures and languages, in the multilingual, multicultural world we live in. The worrying aspect of this, is that our masters in Westminster have now decided to pursue new trade agreements with other countries, and gone are the heady days of Empire when they could dictate favorable terms to subservient governments, with Scotland, Wales and part of Ulster being among the few that remain in this category. Just as the USA, where Mars /Snickers is based, gave us a xenophobic anglophile Trump regime, ill-equipped to forge… Read more »
J don’t think these jokes that ridicule the Welsh Language are going to stop any time soon. Also it’s not a good use of our time to try and convince those English and Welsh who subscribe to the idea that the Welsh language is pointless/useless/silly that the “jokes” should stop. If we defend ourselves/our language and complain this thrown back as moaning, being precious, having no sense of humour ,being snowflakes. As some are doing already we need to turn the joke around and let those telling them know that we think that they are the butt of these “jokes”… Read more »
English has a much more serious problem – it was designed by illiterates who had no knowledge of phonetics !
Cymru is fascinating Im Polish I live and work in North Wales I study welsh language yes it is not easy but fascinating amazing beautifull how much is so many similar words between even Polish language and Welsh ,egz,Lion-LLew-Lew where Lew is Lion in Polish. Rember when You travel more .learn more ,We are all Big Familly on this Earth and code is in languages You can Discovery by yourself how language was traveling and changing. I like the diffrence between Nations.I prefer count numbers in Welsh rather in Polish.My motherlanguage is even harder to say, egz, kiss-sws-pocalunek
It’s laughable when a UK company gets it wrong concerning a true indigonious language yet it’s beginning to appear to use a Conservative party punch lines there are “Dark Forces” at work here as we appear to be getting a conserted effort to denigrate our language it may seem small fry taken as a one off but this is one of several over the past few months
I like melody Welsh melody with harmony inside there is something speciall in that culture.
As a Brummie who’s always being mocked for my accent, though people use the black country twang to do it. I applaud the Welsh for fighting this idiocy, and come on snickers? REALLY! ,Pot kettle much
Slow news day?
Fkin ell. I am from Aus and didn’t realise the Welsh were sensitive little snowflake. Chill out and have a laugh ffs.
This story reminded me of when my cat ran across my keyboard and spelt Cardiff lmao
As a Welshman, I’m more disappointed with those complaining, and the apology. Get a sense of humor, dangit, you’re making us look pathetic.
There are a lot of possible responses to a taking the p**s out of the Welsh language joke but the truly pathetic one is surely
– don’t criticize the joke or they’ll think we’re pathetic.
I’m Welsh and honestly, this isn’t a big deal. Bit of a step up from sheep shaggers. I guess the truth just hurts some people because truthfully, they have a point.
What’s true is that any language that you can’t understand can appear to look like it was produced when a cat sat on a keyboard .
Laugh your socks off Ash James. I’ll start you off with Albanian .
You said “they have a point” what is it and why?
As only 29% of the population speak Welsh, mae’n debyg nad yw’r gweddill yn poeni!
Yeah, this is offensive. But the sweet irony is that those commentators who reel against people calling out racism, homophobia, sexism and transphobia will be blowing a gasket about this. It’s alright to be ‘offended’ about the Welsh language, but if it’s about your gender or the colour of your skin, you’re a snowflake.
Take it up with the people who make unpleasant remarks about skin-colour. The particular issue under discussion relates to Wales, not London. It goes without saying that nobody who contributes comments to this website appoves of derogatory remarks about ethnic minorities or women.