Heck Food facing boycott after cringeworthy "Boris Banger" PR stunt backfires
Sausage makers Heck Food are facing a nationwide boycott after a PR stunt with Boris Johnson - in which the Tory leadership hopeful was helped by Heck staff to create his own "Boris Banger" sausage in front of a hoarde of assembled photographers - backfired catastrophically, with huge swathes of social media users accusing the firm of political bias and vowing never to buy their products again under the hashtag #BoycottHeck.
On Thursday, Johnson took part in a PR stunt at the firm's kitchens in Yorkshire to promote a new range of Heck sausages made in his honour - named the "Boris Banger":
https://twitter.com/DaveHiggensPA/status/1146812453122125826
https://twitter.com/Nicola_Rees/status/1146811907476795392
The stunt came despite Heck's co-owner, Debbie Keeble, declaring before the 2017 General Election that an end to Freedom of Movement - one of Boris Johnson's key Brexit red lines - would be "cataclysmic" for her business.
https://twitter.com/jayrayner1/status/1147882481292648448
Given Johnson's divisive politics and highly controversial views, Heck's endorsement of the Tory leadership hopeful created outrage, with many social media users accusing the Yorkshire firm of completely misjudging their customer base and some even predicting it could be the "kiss of death" for the company.
https://twitter.com/penkymax/status/1148203545331687424
Following the backlash, Heck have now responded, attempting to claim that they did not "specifically endorse" Mr Johnson:
https://twitter.com/HeckFood/status/1148211077404069888
Heck's claim comes despite them literally creating a sausage in Mr Johnson's honour:
https://twitter.com/The_ChrisShaw/status/1148220330558795776
https://twitter.com/jayrayner1/status/1148244861063172096
And just when it looked like things couldn't get worse for the Yorkshire firm, the hashtag #BoycottHeck is now trending at number 2 on Twitter - with huge numbers of social media users pledging never to buy their products again.
https://twitter.com/martin_lowe/status/1148157227703816192
https://twitter.com/TyndallClare/status/1148213016481226752
https://twitter.com/penkymax/status/1148203545331687424
https://twitter.com/PeterNaldrett/status/1148178018751385601
And the uproar hasn't just been consigned to Twitter, with Heck's Google review ranking also being severely hit after an influx of furious former customers leaving negative reviews.