Yesterday, D and I went to the new M and S café on the outskirts of Woodley. We were looking to take advantage of their kids meal deal - sandwiches or pizza, a drink, two snacks and a piece of fruit. Helpfully, all of the shelf edges show you what's part of the deal, with red labels.
So, D and I discussed what he wanted. He wanted cheese sandwiches, a gingerbread man, yoghurt covered raisins, an apple and this: -
I was delighted. The alternative options were a Percy Pig fruit juice (from concentrate) and an apple juice. Now, I have no problem with him having the occasional carton of fruit juice but smoothies are better in my opinion - being a little closer to fruit than juice. Given the current concerns around the amount of sugar (albeit fructose) that is in fruit juice, smoothies seem like a good choice.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the till to be told that this smoothie is NOT a drink according to Marks and Spencers café. Instead, it's considered to be a snack. The smoothies are on the same shelf as the apple juice and the Percy Pig juice. The shelf edge label doesn't highlight that this is classed as a snack rather than a drink in the deal.
So, what do you do? Do you upset the child and make him put back one of the snacks for the smoothie? Do you upset the child and switch the smoothie for a juice you don't really want him to have anyway? Or do you, as I did, end up just buying both?
Confused by the whole situation, I tweeted @marksandspencers to ask why this was the case. I also had comments from other tweeters affirming that a smoothie is a drink. @hayles pointed out that the Apple dictionary believes it to be a drink: -
I was a bit annoyed about the whole situation but had calmed down a little, until I got this tweet from the people at Marks and Spencers:-
I am not sure quite what the patronising tone is about but I'm not happy. I won't be going to the café again, despite the incredibly tasty mushroom and emmental toastie.
My three and a half year old knows that smoothies are drinks - my three and a half year old can't understand why M&S don't think they are. At thirty-one, neither do I.
Smoothies are drinks, right?
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