Morrisons refusing to remove Russian products from sale.

[Paintyourpaletteblueandgrey]

I went shopping to Morrisons last night. Wandering the alcohol aisle I found a full lit up display of Russian Standard vodka which is made in St Petersberg. Morrisons announced earlier that week that they, like all other supermarkets, were withdrawing all Russian products for sale due to the ongoing Ukraine crisis so I was quite surprised to see it there.

As I was leaving I spoke to customer services asking why the vodka was still on the shelves. The store manager came down with an email from the head office to show me. Basically Morrisons have withdrawn the vodka online but have decided to continue to sell it on their stores. Their view is that regardless of what is going on in Ukraine, they have bought the vodka and don't believe they should lose out on the profits for it (manager's words not mine). I asked why they had announced that they were banning Russian products when it was untrue and was told 'well why should we lose money?'

Am I being unreasonable thinking that Morrisons have just jumped on the Ukraine bandwagon with no actual intent to stand by their comments. They are putting money before morality. Surely we should be making a stand against Russia rather than paying lip service to them. I tweeted Morrisons last night but surprise surprise, they have ignored my tweet.

@UKRAINEwearewithyou

Many Russians may or may not want this war but not enough of them bother to stand together and fight their dictator leader. Yet the Ukrainian people show much more bravery and actually fight him.

Overthrown from within by his own people would be great but not enough of them stand against him, only very small numbers do and so will be arrested. If hundreds of thousands protested then it might actually make a difference. A few thousand are easily dealt with by him.

"not enough of them bother to stand up" Jesus Christ - have you got the faintest idea what it takes to stand up to a leader like that in a regime like Russia? Have you got the faintest idea of the history that the current generations' parents and grandparents lived and died through under successive dictatorships and incarnations of the secret police? The "democracy" that exists in Russia is a total sham and the paranoia and authoritarianism that exists there is evident even on a casual visit. Hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians can be pretty quickly dealt with the kind of armaments that Putin has at his disposal and he does not give a toss about how that plays out on western media. plus, as others have said, the narrative inside Russia via their tightly controlled media is very different.

*Many Russians may or may not want this war but not enough of them bother to stand together and fight their dictator leader. Yet the Ukrainian people show much more bravery and actually fight him.

Overthrown from within by his own people would be great but not enough of them stand against him, only very small numbers do and so will be arrested. If hundreds of thousands protested then it might actually make a difference. A few thousand are easily dealt with by him*

You're very brave from the comfort of your home in a democratic society, aren't you?

@BasicBiscuit

How much if the boycott do you sent to be performative, and how much do you want it to be am actual sanction?

That vodka has already been paid for - the Russiam company has that money now. What purpose is being served by Morrisons not now selling it on? Russian Standard don't care if if they sell it, pour it down the sink, or use it an an accelerant on a picture of Putin, do they?

Exactly. By all means encourage the supermarkets to stop buying it for the stores, but you might as well sell what's already there.

@Paintyourpaletteblueandgrey

As I said earlier, I accept I may be unreasonable... Each to their own views I guess.

It's not just unreasonable it's also illogical. You're choosing to get cross at a company who are doing their part to offer practical financial help alongside taking measures to reevaluate their future supply lines.

Russia have already received the money for anything on shelves now so Morrison's might as well sell it. Otherwise they have to put prices up on other things to cover the loss which makes no sense.

You're very brave from the comfort of your home in a democratic society, aren't you

Indeed. If going out on the street risked you being arrested and potentially tortured you might be a bit less sanguine.

@RankingMyBest

I see, the Covid curtain twitchers wondering out loud whether to report their neighbours have moved on to patrolling supermarket shelves

Yep plus ca change and all that 😏

@UKRAINEwearewithyou

Many Russians may or may not want this war but not enough of them bother to stand together and fight their dictator leader. Yet the Ukrainian people show much more bravery and actually fight him.

Overthrown from within by his own people would be great but not enough of them stand against him, only very small numbers do and so will be arrested. If hundreds of thousands protested then it might actually make a difference. A few thousand are easily dealt with by him.

Can I please ask how this will happen when anyone thought to be conspiring will be punished and social media platforms have been blocked?

How would you arrange it if you were there? Knock on doors? Put up posters? Talk to neighbours when you aren't sure if they will tell the authorities?

Do explain.

The whole exercise is one of bandwagon jumping hypocrisy.

Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose, etc, do not give a single fuck about injustice or the suffering of people in the world. It is 100% a marketing exercise to blow their own trumpet, make themselves look good in the public eye and try to manipulate shoppers into thinking they're "doing their bit".

I honestly don't understand how they can have the brass neck to stand there and make a big song and dance about the moral reasons they are removing Russian products while at the exact same time selling items produced in illegally sized settlements from Israel, as well as STILL buying clothing and other products from companies accused of exploitation.

@Nosquit

Can I just say one thing to the posters who are saying we need to make ordinary Russians feel the consequences:

ORDINARY RUSSIANS DO NOT AS A WHOLE WANT THIS WAR ANY MORE THAN WE DO OR THE UKRANIANS DO!!

Many have been out in protest. Those who haven’t are so very scared of the consequences. Have you any idea how tight the rules are and how strong the sanctions are for them to speak out against their government? I have a feeling you probably don’t and that if we had the same consequences here (very bad prisons, major loss of income, loss of job and very difficult to find another one, loss of any support, VERY hefty fines on top of loss of job and other things besides) you would not go out and protest against a war either. And again, do you think Putin cares if the people of Russia are happy? No he doesn’t. He’s a self centred war monger who only cares about himself and his cronies and the general public can all die off for all he cares as long as the rich and powerful survive.
Seeing people saying things like “Russians have to suffer to see the consequences” etc makes me so so sad. They see the consequences, they are just totally and utterly powerless and are struggling to survive themselves. The soldiers don’t even want to go to war and fight as many are against this invasion but that don’t want to be shot as deserters.

Thank goodness for some sense being posted. There's a lot of ignorance about the Russian population and a lot of sneering and judgement from people who don't have a clue it seems. Sad.

You're very brave from the comfort of your home in a democratic society, aren't you exactly. The Russian citizens are as much victims here as the Ukrainians, but hey, let’s sit behind a keyboard and blame the ordinary Russians for the actions of their dictator.

Do you blame the afghans for not standing up to the Taliban? The Zimbabweans for how their country ended up under Robert Mugabe?

You are of course responsible for the way Boris Johnson handled the pandemic?

And you are also responsible for the war in Iraq under your then leader.

No didn’t think so.

It’s easy to say that normal Russian people should be doing more but when doing that means you risk your own life and that of those you love by doing so then it becomes much harder.

Putin doesn’t care who he hurts along the way to getting what he wants.

*And you are also responsible for the war in Iraq under your then leader.

No didn’t think so.*

I think we are to a point, yes. Had we really risen up against it, things could have been different. I know there was a lot of marching, but not much else, we didn't really oppose it strongly did we?!

Not saying that's right or wrong, but we did let it happen.

Many Russians may or may not want this war but not enough of them bother to stand together and fight their dictator leader. Yet the Ukrainian people show much more bravery and actually fight him.

Overthrown from within by his own people would be great but not enough of them stand against him, only very small numbers do and so will be arrested. If hundreds of thousands protested then it might actually make a difference. A few thousand are easily dealt with by him.

Lolololol. Imagine having the gall to criticise a population for not overthrowing a tyrant dictator, who would jail them or worse, while living in a country that doesn't just turn a blind eye to the acts of corruption and exploitation from its government but, actively votes them into power time and time again.

You could just boycott Russian products yourself if you wanted, just like I do with Israeli products but doubt if it makes any difference to be totally honest but if you feel strongly about something then do it.
Morrisons should have stood by whay they said yes but its doubtful that there's mych meaning behind what most companies are doing anyway

Were you asking supermarkets to ban selling American products when they invaded Afghanistan?

Bet your bottom dollar you weren't.

Oops I'll probably get banned for mentioning Israel now

I see their point. It is already paid for, so no point in Morrisons or any other losing money on it.

@Hadjab

If we boycott Russian-made products, ultimately who are we harming? Let’s imagine, everyone stops drinking Russian Standard, the business goes bust - who is being penalised here? Just the company, or also the normal, everyday people who work in the distillery?

who may also support the war moves ? If there is more discord in Russia then Putin may have to rethink.

What Morrisons, and other supermarkets should do, is stop ordering Russian vodka then quietly put their existing stock on offer as the cheapest brand on the shelf. It will fly out of the door in a few days, because while a few people have principles, most people like a bargain more. Problem solved.

I agree with this answer

"I agree with Morrisons actually. If they've already bought and paid for it then there is nothing for Russia to gain from them now selling it. The only people to lose out would be Morrisons. They should absolutely stop buying anymore, but what has already been purchased might as well be sold/consumed."

Sorry hadn't read the thread further on.

@Thebestwaytoscareatory

Many Russians may or may not want this war but not enough of them bother to stand together and fight their dictator leader. Yet the Ukrainian people show much more bravery and actually fight him.

Overthrown from within by his own people would be great but not enough of them stand against him, only very small numbers do and so will be arrested. If hundreds of thousands protested then it might actually make a difference. A few thousand are easily dealt with by him.

Lolololol. Imagine having the gall to criticise a population for not overthrowing a tyrant dictator, who would jail them or worse, while living in a country that doesn't just turn a blind eye to the acts of corruption and exploitation from its government but, actively votes them into power time and time again.

Yes quite, how many people have moaned about Boris and the tories, yet there they are still in office. Not comparing him to Putin of course, but as we live in a democracy and there isn't much to fear from protesting or publicly being against the government then it should surely be easy for us.

Boycotts can be very effective but if you're going to boycott Russian goods you should also be boycotting US goods, and Israeli etc etc. Russia aren't the only aggressive power in the world. Ask the Iraqis, afghans and Libyans. Yemen's, Palestinians. Does it matter more because it's on tv all the time?

Wow you must lead a boring life