British Supermarket Very Sorry for Its 12 Years a Slave Mannequin

Sainsbury’s is very sorry that someone at its Oxford store thought it was a good idea to display a bunch of 12 Years a Slave DVDs next to a mannequin presumably dressed to resemble Solomon Northup, wearing a torn-up shirt and black pants with a twig stuck in the pocket. Just in case you saw the movie and your takeaway was, “Hey, those knee breeches look really comfortable.”

The image started circulating on Twitter earlier this week, according to the Independent, after a shopper snapped a photo. Somehow, this was not a hoax but in fact a real display someone, somewhere thought would be a good idea. After Twitter flipped its lid, The Hollywood Reporter reports, Sainsbury’s PR apologized and announced it had been removed, admitting it “clearly should never have gone up in the first place.”

Ya think?

No explanation for how this happened was forthcoming. Sainsbury’s told the Daily Mail that the promo wasn’t officially sanctioned by corporate HQ (one would certainly hope not). Presumably a couple of former Sainsbury’s employees who are nowhere near as clever as they think are now looking for new gigs.