‘SAINSBURY’S MAG NOTHING TO DO WITH US’, SAYS SAINSBURY’S PR
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson has claimed that Sainsbury’s Magazine is “a completely separate commercial entity” from Sainsbury’s – and refused to accept any responsibility for an advertisement for a three-month unpaid internship on the publication, which is likely to be illegal.
Yesterday morning, I had a strange voicemail from Tom Parker in the Sainsbury’s press office.
To be honest, I couldn’t make much sense of it.
So I have transcribed it below in the hope that one of Graduate Fog’s users might be able to enlighten me as to what the dickens this guy is on about:
“This is Tom Parker in the Sainsbury’s Press Office.
On Twitter, you said ‘Now Sainsbury’s openly recruits unpaid interns’…
You’ve said before that this is not Sainsbury’s that’s doing this – this is Sainsbury’s Magazine.
They are separate from us. They are completely a separate commercial entity.
I’m going to drop you an email but we’d be grateful if you could change those tweets because they are simply not correct. They are factually incorrect.
I’m going to drop you an email shortly about your other queries but in the interest s of fairness and what’s correct and not misleading your readers, it’s important that they know the difference between Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s Magazine.
I’m sure you’ll agree.”
Acutally, I’m not sure that I do agree.
As I understand it, Sainsbury’s pays Seven Squared a large fee to produce their magazine on their behalf, which has the sole purpose of promoting Sainsbury’s products and services and the Sainsbury’s brand.
So I ignored Tom’s message – mainly because I had a deadline for some other work but also because he was getting right on my nerves.
Later, at 5.15pm, this email arrived:
Dear Tanya,
Please find answers to your questions below. I hope that you will make it clear to your readers the distinction between Sainsbury’s Magazine and Sainsbury’s.
I am sure that your readers are aware of our highly regarded graduate recruitment scheme. As well as the graduate programme we also offer paid year long and summer work long placements for students. Your readers can find out more details on these, plus our regular graduate scheme, at www.sainsburys.co.uk/graduates. Would you be interested in working together on this story?
Kind regards,
Tom
Below, he had listed answers to my four questions.
Which, in fairness, is more then Tesco, Superdrug, Morrisons or Weight Watchers have yet been able to provide (and my questions really aren’t hard):
What is Sainsbury’s policy on using unpaid interns throughout your business? Are you aware of the law that anybody deemed to be a ‘worker’ (rather than a true ‘volunteer’) must be paid at least the minimum wage, regardless of whether they are willing to work unpaid?
It is not our policy to recruit unpaid interns. Instead we offer students and graduates year and summer long paid work placements. These are very popular and a number of our interns have gone on to join our full graduate scheme.
Was Sainsbury’s aware of the ad, before I brought it to your attention? If you were unaware of it, is this something you will be speaking to your contract publisher Seven Squared about?
As Seven Squared is an independent company with its own recruitment team, this advert was not bought to our attention. We will be discussing this advert with Seven Squared.
Whose responsibility do you feel this is? Although I suspect Seven Squared posted this ad without consulting you, could they argue that your contract with them is not sufficient to cover their staffing costs to run Sainsbury’s magazine? Since the magazine (and the ad) both carry the Sainsbury’s brand, I assume you feel you have some responsibility for this?
Seven Squared is a completely independent company and as such, this advert was published without our knowledge. As I mentioned above, we will raise the issue with the company.
Can you confirm whether this internship has already run (the ad was from the end of March to the end of June)? Was the intern paid for his/her work on Sainsbury’s magazine?
As Seven Squared is independent of Sainsbury’s, we are unable to answer this question on its behalf. Instead please can you contact Suzanne Michaels, Assistant to Editor Helena Lang, at suzanne.michaels@sevensquared.co.uk. Suzanne is aware of your query.
Graduate Fog’s users feel that the big companies like Sainsbury’s should be taking the lead on this issue and setting a good example. Too many companies are taking advantage of young people’s desperation to find work and gain experience as a way of cutting their own staff costs. What steps will you take to ensure that Sainsbury’s – and none of your suppliers – will use unpaid interns in the future?
We insist that all of the companies we work with, no matter where they are in the world, obey the laws in the countries in which they operate. We do this by working closely with suppliers to ensure their dealings are fair and ethical.
Your thoughts, folks?
Here are mine:
– I believe that Sainsbury’s did not approve this ad.
– I understand that Sainsbury’s gives Seven Squared a level of autonomy when putting together Sainsbury’s Magazine and assumes that its suppliers stick to the laws of the land.
However,
– I also believe that claiming Sainsbury’s Magazine has nothing to do with Sainsbury’s is just plain weird. Sainsbury’s pays Seven Squared to produce Sainsbury’s Magazine, on their behalf. The magazine is a promotional tool for the Sainsbury’s brand. Sainsbury’s is the client and this magazine (and this ad) both carry the Sainsbury’s brand name. It looks likley that one of Sainsbury’s’ suppliers has broken the law and if they have done so it is in Sainsbury’s’ name. As such, I feel Sainsbury’s should take some responsibility for this, instead of trying to push the blame entirely on to their supplier.
– I also think that – given the seriousness of the situation – someone from Seven Squared should have dropped me a line by now. Asking me to contact the Editor’s PA (no offence to Suzanne) – doesn’t give me the impression that they’re taking this all that seriously.
It’s almost as if they’re not aware that WE HAVE CAUGHT THEM DOING SOMETHING THAT IS VERY LIKELY TO BE ILLEGAL.
Any thoughts on what we should do next?
*What do you reckon?
Are you satisfied by Sainsbury’s’ response to this story? Or could they do more to prove they are taking this issue seriously?
Companies are responsible for their contractors and suppliers. Take a look at BP…it wasn’t their rig but a contracted one that went wrong but they are legally responsible for the actions of their contractor. I don’t think Sainsbury can remove their responsibility from the actions of their suppliers i.e. they need to have a very firm word with Seven Squared…
@Jim
Thanks, I totally agree! I just don’t see how these huge companies can expect to have it both ways.
If they’re happy enough to take the glory when ‘their’ magazine promotes their brand in a positive light (when things are all going well), I think it’s a bit spinless of them to duck the blame for any negative publicity when something goes wrong (like when their supplier is caught advertising for an illegal role on ‘their’ magazine).
By the way, there’s still been no word from any of these three contract publishers on this… River, Result and Seven Squared all remain totally silent.
And there’s been nothing from Morrisons AT ALL, since my last contact with them on Wednesday 14th, saying their PR Manager Stella Pitt would be ‘in touch with you directly with a response’…
UPDATE:
THIS JUST IN FROM SAINSBURY’S CONTRACT PUBLISHING COMPANY, SEVEN SQUARED (MONDAY 19TH JULY, 15.58):
Dear Ms de Grunwald,
Tom Parker from Sainsbury’s press office forwarded me your query regarding the Sainsbury’s Magazine Internship.
Thank you for your concern about the Sainsbury’s Magazine intern role. However I am happy to confirm that this role is paid within minimum wage guidelines. Please remove references to Sainsbury’s and Seven Squared from your website and blog.
Kind regards,
Sarah Wheeler
***********************************************
Sarah Wheeler
Head of HR
Seven Publishing Group Ltd
For anyone who didn’t see the ad, here is the text:
Within this text I can see several breaches of the law – and this woman has supplied no additional information as to why now, suddenly, the role is ‘within minimum wage guidelines’.
As a result I’m extremely irritated that they are telling me to take down all references to Sainsbury’s and Seven Squared and I have absolutely no plans to do this at the moment.
What does everyone else think?
I have just replied to Seven Squared…
I just wanted to say, well done Tanya for not letting the corporate spin machine flummox you. It’s absolutely deplorable of these companies to shamelessly advertise for “unpaid positions,” and then essentially try to bully people who call it to attention into submission. Thank you, on behalf of all struggling graduates– it’s nice to have someone in our corner.
@Ella – thank you SO much for posting this comment!
I’ve been amazed by how badly the press depts for all these huge companies have behaved.
Those who haven’t sent half-baked ‘explanations’ have tried to push the blame squarely on to their suppliers (who THEY pay to produce their mags) – or not responded at all. I can honestly say that NONE has yet given the impression that they’re taking this issue seriously at all, despite the fact that I’m accusing them of doing something ILLEGAL.
As long as Graduate Fog’s users want me to, I’ll keep pressing on with this. But I do need to hear that you’re behind me, as it adds huge weight to what I’m doing. So thanks again so much for this message xx
You are the best Tanya – well done for sticking to your guns and following it up! These companies will blather and avoid, do anything rather than face the facts of what they are doing. But they won’t get away with it if you shine a light on these activities.
Now one more worker will be getting their legal entitlement – simply because you were bothered enough to ask!
@ Mark Watson – thanks for this! : )
Hey Tanya,
I don’t know if you remember me, but we met at the Stella Creasy Q & A Session in the House of Commons on 8 June. Just wanted to say thank you for all your work, it has truly been an inspiration for the Professional Project I’m doing on the issues of internships. I wish you lots of patience and strength in these battles with bastardly corporations and I hope that knowing that you are in the right and that you’re contributing with something good in this world will always motivate you to continue. The solving of these issues depends on people like you not giving up!
Wishing you all the best!
Oh btw I can’t seem to find Superdrug’s add on the website anymore…Is it possible they’ve taken it down?