Pret comes under fire after employee is seen wearing a “I am new, kiss me” badge

Pret kiss me I'm new badge featured

Sandwich shop, Pret, has come under fire after a female employee was spotted wearing a, “I am new, kiss me” badge.

The badge was first spotted by journalist, Bella Mackie who tweeted a picture and wrote, “Come on Pret, it’s kind of gross to make new female employees wear this badge.”

Other Twitter users have also commented, calling the move “inappropriate”, “unacceptable” and “gross”.

MP Harriet Harman joined the backlash, writing, “Oh no! This cannot be for real! If it is, Pret, stop it immediately! I love Pret but hate this!”

However, the sandwich chain has clarified that it does not make its staff wear these badges.

Responding to the outrage on Twitter, Pret said, “…we definitely don’t ask our employees to wear badges with this message. Could you please let us know which shop it was so we can investigate?”

They also clarified, “Our teams can order badges with names on and can personalise them. Thanks for letting us know which shop it was and for making us aware of this in the first place.”

“We will look into it.”

Despite this, another Twitter user said it had seen another Pret employee with a badge displaying an inappropriate message.

He tweeted, “Interestingly, I saw today both that one alongside a black employee wearing one with ‘hot chocolate’ and thought ‘am I being bad, or are they really doing this?’.

“If this is company policy, or even just encouraged, it’s quite appalling.”

About the author

Alison is the Digital Content Editor for WeAreTheCity. She has a BA Honours degree in Journalism and History from the University of Portsmouth. She has previously worked in the marketing sector and in a copywriting role. Alison’s other passions and hobbies include writing, blogging and travelling.
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