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news
Waitrose (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 licensed by Rachel Groves:Flickr)Cambridge Waitrose in trouble for describing Tour de France as "local sporting event"
The Cambridge branch of Waitrose has landed itself in hot Essential Ironing Water by underselling the Tour de France in a warning about disruption likely to be caused by the race.
On July 7 Cambridge will host the start of the last of the Tour’s three days in the UK as it heads to a London finish before returning home to France.
The stage route heads south from the centre of Cambridgedown the A1309, and turns left on to the A1301 almost at the store’s entrance, so anyone who finds themselves in need of an emergency restock of black summer truffle or hard-boiled, ready-peeled quail eggs may just have to suffer. Or — the horror! — go to Sainsbury’s instead.
Great British Understatement!
Cambridge Waitrose undersells Tour de France cycle race http://t.co/XRT0epnz34 pic.twitter.com/CT73I4LKe2
— 4 Little People Ltd (@4_LittlePeople) June 30, 2014
Warning shoppers of the likely problems a sign at the store said: “Just to let you know...
“Due to a local sporting event a number of roads will be distrupted around our branch causing difficulty shopping on Monday 7 July.
“We will be open as usual but ui may find it easier to do your shopping earlier in the week.”
Calmer heads might take this with a pinch of Anglesey sea salt and see it as understated, tongue-in-cheek British humour, but that hasn’t stopped local councillor Ian Manning from taking it seriously.
According to the BBC, Manning, who in November called for the council to offer workers flexible hours so they could watch the race, said that calling the Tour a local sporting event was “bizarre”.
“Given that Cambridge is the UK’s number one cycling city and the Tour de France is the world’s number one cycling event - if Waitrose believes this to be a ‘local sporting event’ the phrase never knowingly understated springs to mind, let alone undersold,” he said.
“To have the race in the city is just incredible - describing it as a local event is bizarre to say the least.”
Mick Draper, president of the Cambridge Cycling Club, said: “It’s totally the wrong way to describe it.
“It’s an international event that’s been all over the world, so you can’t call it a local event.”
A spokesman for Waitrose, said: "We're very sorry that we got it wrong."
We do wonder if perhaps Mr Manning and Mr Draper need to sit down with a nice cup of Early Grey and a chocolate biscuit and relax a little. It’s only a bike race after all.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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22 comments
A much more balanced view than Harrogate neighbourhood watch.....
Hilarity all-round. Maybe they meant 'Local' to the Milky Way ? That would be accurate.
It's a sporting event, and it's happening locally on that day. What's the problem, exactly?
The only part I struggle with is the suggestion to do my shopping earlier in the week. What's earlier than a Monday?
Exactly. Sad people getting worked up over nothing.
If they had named the event in question, would they not have risked censure from the event's lawyers for "piggy back marketing"?
Get a life FFS.
Wow, it's amazing what some people will get their knickers in a twist about.
The article however I found quite funny, I mean seriously how can anyone describe "Ironing water" as essential with a straight face and actually sell it to people for a pound?
"Essential" is Waitrose's 'basics' own-brand range.
I think this is a standard poster. I don't think there is a big problem. Plus this Waitrose lets shoppers hire out bike trailers for 3 days to take their goods home!
Perhaps the " moaners " could get around to speaking about THIS Petition :
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/john-lewis-do-not-pass-the-buck-o...
Since TFL has admitted they were WRONG to use " Cyclist Stay BACK " stickers , it can/will only be a matter of days before " John Lewis " decide that their Waitrose Consumers deserve BETTER treatment ? Didn't know that J L was doing so well , that they can afford to antagonise people ?
Anyone wearing these " Signs " on a vehicle , should be immediately STOPPED and inspected by the Authorities , have their vehicles inspected , their Eye sight tested , their Cell/Mobile phone checked , perhaps even breathalised ! After all if you advertise your Stupidity , you deserve what follows ?
Aren't we being constantly extolled to 'embrace' the Tour de France and to 'make it our own'? Isn't that what Waitrose has done? After all isn't the TdF starting in Cambridge that day? Doesn't that make it a 'local' sporting event?
Well done to Waitrose for taking what could be a contentious issue, i.e. people not interested in the event forgetting it is on and being annoyed their lives are interrupted, and giving them a gentle reminder with a little humour.
Slow news day?
Waitrose & partners John Lewis might perhaps think harder about cycling as both an international sport and as a daily activity. There's a petition here to request they stop using those dangerous "Cyclists: DO NOT pass on this side" stickers on their vans (which even tfL have now been forced to abandon):
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/john-lewis-do-not-pass-the-buck-o...
Waitrose? Apparently it's a grocery shop.
One had ever heard of it.
This is great news!
Clearly there's a shortage of cycling-related things to complain about if a local councillor and a cycle-club chair are reduced to moaning about this complete non-issue.
Everything else relating to the subject must have been fixed in the last few days without my noticing. Hurrah! The promised land is here!
Funnily enough, I saw that in my local one the other day and while I thought it was amusing, didn't feel it was worth complaining to the manager and getting my free coffee in a froth.
Check you out with your fancy club card!
This is a local shop for local people.
I think Waitrose called this right. The tdf is a minor event. Everybody knows that the Giro is the leading Grand Tour. Followed by La Vuelta.
To be fair: it IS local to the shop, and it IS a sporting event. Bit of a pathetic whinge by the councillor.
'Local sporting event' distinguishes it from most sporting events that have their own dedicated venue, rather than taking place of local roads.
For those unaware of what 'Le Tour de France' entails, it seems like a relatively accurate description of the kind of disturbance people should expect. It's not what I'd stick in the TdF publicity brochure, but as a way of flagging up the arrival of 'a sporting event on local roads that may one's shopping routine', it seems fairly reasonable.
It's not gushing with praise or romance, but I don't think that's what it set out to do.
Just as well it's completely inconsequential, eh? Hooray!
They say the same thing around the Olympic park....look I'm trying to set myself with a prime spot to view the race. The less people know about it the better. Sheesh.
Yep - couldn't agree more. Talk about a storm in a teacup! These two seriously need to get themselves a life.
The race IS local! If it wasn't it would be in France!