23 March 2011

Pret A Manger's Crinkly Old Bag

Being a creature of habit, for the last 20 years or so, if I’ve needed a bite at lunchtime and there’s a branch of Pret A Manger handy, that’s where I’ve gone in search of:
... proper sandwiches avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the 'prepared' and 'fast' food on the market today
not difficult when they have over 200 branches in the UK, though mostly in London and only a few in SW England. The other day in London, I noticed this on the counter:

Pret A Manger's Crinkly Old Bag
 The text in close-up:


The thought crossed my mind that there was something a little sexist and ageist about this wording, but I put it down to my age or the menopause (male). Perhaps the environmental message is a bit Pret-entious. We all recycle these days, and this is about a paper bag not the development of carbon capture.

PS. I don’t believe Google reads text from jpg images (or does it?) so, for the benefit of any passing web crawlers, this is what it said:

Crinkly Old Bag
The environment's a hot issue and quite rightly so. About time!
Enjoying sustainable, top quality, natural, preservative- free food is pretty fundamental as well.
The baguette in this recyclable and biodegradable bag was baked and filled right here at Pret.
(No ‘sell by’ dates and ‘display until’ labels…Hurrah!)
Of course, the bag isn't really old and what's inside is 'Just Made'.
and
This Crinkly Old Bag is 100% recyclable.

PPS. Apologies to any French readers, but they like to be Pret A Manger, not Prêt à Manger!

4 comments:

  1. How many calories in this roll?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is sexist derogatory and not even a funny play on words.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Coming back to it four years later, it seems more than "a little sexist and ageist" and I agree with you. Thank you for commenting.

    ReplyDelete