Mum Slams Coles Little Shop Promo After Finding One on a Beach in Bali

Mum slams Coles ‘Little Shop’ campaign after she discovered one of its plastic toys washed up on a beach in Indonesia.

Stephanie Shaw, a 40-year-old mother from Brisbane, was in Bali for a work trip this week when she noticed the familiar toy laying on the sand among heaps of plastic and rubbish.

Ironically, Ms Shaw had just finished a marine conservation and plastic pollution conference.

‘I couldn’t believe it. That little piece of plastic could have easily landed in a sea turtle’s mouth or been swallowed by a bird,’ Ms Shaw told Yahoo7 News.

‘It was actually kind of fitting as Nutella itself is full of palm oil, which is devastating Indonesia’s rainforests and killing the orangutan population,’ she continued.

Ms Shaw continued to slam the campaign, blaming Coles executives for not thinking of the aftermath of having thousands of little plastic toys, that will never break down, floating around.

‘It’s just a terrible campaign. We should be straying away from plastics altogether. They are not thinking about the environment. They’re not recyclable at all.’

Of course she wasn’t able to confirm if the Coles toy had infact traveled from Australia, or had been brought to the beach by a tourist.

A couple of months ago a young man shared his outraged after finding a plastic Coles Little Shop Mini Collectable washed up on his local beach. Read more on that HERE.

Coles has previously said its collectables used plastics, which are fully recyclable, including its packaging.

Share your comments below

18 Comments

- - Blossom said
  - 07 Dec 2018
    9:13 pm
How long has it been there. Some plastics are recyclable. Where does the recycled plastic that is used to make dog registration tags come from?

- - mom111059 said
  - 21 Nov 2018
    11:58 am
Most of these plastic toys get chucked out eventually. More waste

- - ashna9 said
  - 20 Nov 2018
    9:53 pm
Washed up or possibly dropped by a child who had been on holidays playing with them?

- - mom101628 said
  - 19 Nov 2018
    9:40 pm
Why didn’t people think that this is where they would finally end up – in land fill, the water or on some beach. Collectable are only a fad for the moment, then they get thrown out.

- - mom290396 said
  - 18 Nov 2018
    4:17 pm
It’s up to us as consumers to take responsibility for our own actions! I myself have a sizeable collection of these minis. I gave most to my girl for her barbie dolls and a few to my son for his recycling truck. When they ask to take them outside I say no, because they can get lost! I don’t think coles is to be blamed for this anymore than the people who make fishing lines are responsible for the people who dump them in the ocean!

- - natct said
  - 18 Nov 2018
    3:59 pm
That’s pretty silly blaming coles. Coles didn’t drop it.

- - cherz said
  - 17 Nov 2018
    6:28 pm
I also agree with moms that stated its not Coles fault …

- - mom90758 said
  - 16 Nov 2018
    3:08 pm
Well, if she had found a piece of Lego on Bali’s beaches, would she have blamed Lego?

- - mom112217 said
  - 16 Nov 2018
    11:38 am
I blame the person who purchased it!

- - Jewl said
  - 16 Nov 2018
    10:10 am
That is terrible but everyone has a choice and responsibility, it’s not Coles’ fault

- - mom7108 said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    10:10 pm
It is terrible but people need to realise we have a plastic addiction. We use plastic for so many things and mostly single use. A lot of toys are plastic – hello LEGO, LOL and Barbie but no one seems to make the link these will all be landfill along with plastic bags and nappies.

- - BellaB said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    7:27 pm
We need to blame the customer, too.

- - becstalou said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    7:18 pm
People need to be held accountable for their actions. Coles didn’t put this in the ocean a customer did.
- Ellen replied
  
  16 Nov 2018 , 3:42 am
  So this mum slams COLES for finding a little shop thingie on the beach, not the person who actually left it behind. I understand this is her passion as she just had just finished a marine conservation and plastic pollution conference. But she could slam many other people and companies for using and producing plastic and even more the people who don’t trash it.
- - mom320442 said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    6:18 pm
It just shows how connected we are to each other in the world. Oceans join and rubbish travels. If this had been eaten by a poor animal we would never have known it had washed up, just another poor animal would wash up from plastic! Shame on us for supporting it!

- - mom74005 said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    4:33 pm
You can’t really blast Coles for this toy being on the beach. Think of the child devastated to have lost it… It’s not a good look though.

- - mom93821 said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    4:23 pm
There is no proof of how it landed on the beach. Lots of Australians travel to Bali! Plastic bags, fish netting and other items cause terrible damage. as evidenced in other photos with injured and dead animals.

- - mom81879 said
  - 15 Nov 2018
    2:49 pm
Oh come on, this isn’t Coles fault, it’s the consumers fault. People need to be educated as to what incorrect rubbish disposal does to our planet. I hope she kept it, the Nutella was one of the rare collectables. She might be able to sell it and help fund her studies and clean ups