Marvel Fans Irate After Supermarket Mislabels 'Black Panther' Costume
British supermarket giant Tesco is under fire after having mislabeled a costume based on the film Black Panther costume as "Marvel Avengers Dark Panther Fancy Dress Costume." Fans of the new superhero film, which has smashed box office records and maintained a near perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, are confused and irate.
The costume on Tesco's website is of main character T'Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, who also stars as the Black Panther — not the Dark Panther.
"@Tesco #Tesco please can you explain this to me? Why does this costume say 'dark' #panther there is no dark panther in the kingdom of #Wakanda," @missluvalot tweeted, noting the movie's fictional African kingdom. "It is #BLACKpanther. Why have you done this? What is it? Dark what? U don't remix #IronMan 2 #metalman so why this? #EpicFail #fixthis."
@Tesco #Tesco please can you explain this to me? Why does this costume say 'dark' #panther there is no dark panther in the kingdom of #Wakanda it is #BLACKpanther why have you done this what is it? Dark what? U dont remix #IronMan 2 #metalman so why this? #EpicFail #fixthis pic.twitter.com/hV8wD5RnLY
— meeee (@missluvalot) February 25, 2018
"Just read that @Tesco named a #BlackPanther costumed 'Dark Panther,' lol, who comes up with this? Publicity? Surely someone at the top can't think that they would get away with it!" @karl_holtby exclaimed, followed by a laughing emoji.
Just read that @Tesco named a #BlackPanther costume "Dark Panther", lol, who comes up with this? Publicity? Surely someone at the top can't think that they would get away with it! 😂 pic.twitter.com/M9C5wfbQTd
— Karl Holtby (@karl_holtby) February 27, 2018
Others came to the grocer's defense, suggesting that the generic title is a result of copyright issues.
"A) It's a genuine mistake/oversight B) It's due to licensing C) It's an incredibly clever marketing ploy to get people talking about the costume," @Jack_Allonby wrote.
A) It's a genuine mistake/oversight
B) It's due to licensing
C) It's an incredibly clever marketing ploy to get people talking about the costume— J_Allonby (@Jack_Allonby) February 27, 2018
Nonetheless, Tesco has issued an apology. In a statement to BBC's Newsbeat, the retailer said: "This was a mistake and we are extremely sorry for any offense caused. We are correcting the description of this product on our website and are reviewing our processes to ensure this doesn't happen again."
The Daily Meal has reached out to Tesco and Marvel for further comment.
Perhaps it's safe to say that the colossal "Dark Panther" supermarket costume fail joins the rankings of New Coke, Colgate Lasagna, and 15 other food products that failed miserably.