Personalised gifts have always provided the perfect fodder for trolling, so when Nutella came up with the idea of putting messages on their jars…
Enter Irish writer Seamas O’Reilly. He noticed that London department store Selfridges were offering the personalised jars and immediately realised the fun he could have.
Third I've gotten past those censorious prudes in Selfridges. I've found my true calling. pic.twitter.com/hF695PS2Fb
— Shocko (@shockproofbeats) January 13, 2016
He told Mashable:
I was passing Selfridges a few weeks back and saw the Nutella personalisation desk. I started with the Irish term ‘backdirt’, which means shite.
Their set-up was fairly meticulous though with about four people working there, usually a duty manager skulking around. Avoiding or bypassing these other workers became part of the thrill.
But he did indeed manage to get his messages through…
I can now confirm that Selfridges will put *anything* you ask for on a Nutella jar. pic.twitter.com/i5DFjtAHHr
— Shocko (@shockproofbeats) December 9, 2015
Apparently the term ‘arsemuck’ caused him a few problems, but he persevered with his Irish charm, managing to convince the hapless Selfridges employee it was an Irish name.
Not gonna lie, this was even harder to get past the staff in Selfridges than 'backdirt' was. Worth it though. pic.twitter.com/cuZ3hCoPKB
— Shocko (@shockproofbeats) January 5, 2016
However, it did get harder and harder to sneak the jars past staff, and it sounds like Seamas began to get a little paranoid:
[On] two trips, I’d actually left the queue because I swore I saw the manager nudging staff and pointing me out. I like to imagine they have a mugshot of me back there, smiling innocently and, underneath, the words ‘NO MOR JARZ’.
Mums: You did an English degree would you recommend it for my son?
Me: Yeah! PS here's what I've been up to recently pic.twitter.com/N9xmEi8Mma— Shocko (@shockproofbeats) January 13, 2016
Seamas admitted to Mashable that it’s getting difficult to come up with more that explicitly imply that there’s poo in the jar. Also, he doesn’t particularly like Nutella.