Costa uses cartoon image of ‘trans man’ with mastectomy scars in advert as angry customers threaten boycott
COSTA caused fury after using a cartoon image of a "trans man" with mastectomy scars in an advert.
Customers threatened to boycott the popular British coffee chain after spotting the painting on a Costa Express van.
Costa used the image, taken from a mural designed for Brighton and Hove Pride last year, on a mobile coffee van.
It shows a 'trans man' with scars underneath his nipples drinking from a coffee cup.
Furious customers now say the chain is "glorifying irreversible surgery".
One wrote online: "I had my breast removed due to breast cancer. (It was) very traumatic. How dare they promote it? This is offensive."
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Another said: "What in God's name are Costa Coffee playing at by glamourising the mutilation of young bodies which more than often leads to major regret in later life."
One added: "I’m not a fan of boycotting or cancelling anything or anyone but I will no longer purchase from @CostaCoffee."
Another said: "My take is that they’ve made a careless mistake. This started as a mural in Brighton Pride. Fair enough. It doesn’t belong on the side of coffee vans."
Costa has responded, saying the image was a "snapshot of a wider mural that was commissioned last year" for Brighton and Hove Pride to "celebrate diversity and inclusion".
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The company, which has 2,800 UK stores, said the Costa Express coffee-selling van is "currently wrapped in part of the mural".
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: "At Costa Coffee we celebrate the diversity of our customers, team members and partners.
"We want everyone that interacts with us to experience the inclusive environment that we create, to encourage people to feel welcomed, free and unashamedly proud to be themselves.
"The mural, in its entirety, showcases and celebrates inclusivity."
It comes after Bud Light sparked backlash for partnering with controversial trans poster girl Dylan Mulvaney.
Meanwhile, Noa-Lynn van Leuven made history last week when she became the first trans woman to play in a darts TV tournament.
