A shopper joked ‘we’ve failed as a country’ after he spotted anti-shoplifting security tags on £1.90 cans of Red Bull just a few yards from the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair
Shoppers have been left baffled after security tags were put on £1.90 cans of Red Bull in a posh Sainsbury’s.
Special red and yellow anti-shoplifting tops had been placed on regular and sugar free versions of the 250ml drinks when they were spotted by a customer in a the Sainsbury’s Local in Mayfair, west London. The shop is just yards from the swanky Ritz Hotel. After the surprising sighting on Wednesday, the customer joked: “We’ve failed as a country.”
Fellow shoppers were equallly shocked by the security measure. One person said: “Which energy deprived soul is nicking a Red Bull to make this a requirement in shops”, while another added: “To those who encourage shoplifting, well done.”
Someone else said: “Don’t nobody be stealing them wings that Red Bull gives no more.” A fourth added that there’s “no way these security things cost less” than the amount of Red Bulls stolen from the shop.
Sainsbury’s has been approached for a comment. In recent months, supermarket have put security tags on an increasingly varied selection of products to thwart shoplifters amid the cost-of-living crisis. Last week, Morrisons in Fleet, Hampshire sparked anger by putting champagne in a locked fridge, while last month Tesco resorted to putting security tags on Monster Energy drinks in at least one of its shops.
The supermarket chain had put protection caps on cans of the energy drinks, which are priced at £1.85 in its stores. The measure was seen in one of its Express supermarket branches in central London. The thick yellow plastic lids are stapled onto the drinks can, and can only be removed by staff at the till when the product has been bought. An attempt to take the can out of the store without the lids being removed will result in alarms being sounded.
