Upstate big-box grocery chain Wegmans is none too pleased with native son Alec Baldwin's little Words With Friends-fueled airplane tantrum—due to customer complaints stemming from the outburst, they've dropped the commercials featuring Baldwin hawking the store. And oh, such great commercials they were!
Baldwin was enlisted for a pair of two slightly surreal, low-budget ads after he appeared on Letterman with a story about how much his mother loves the store. Check them out:
It didn't take much for Wegmans to pull the plug on the ads post-tantrum: "We did get customer complaints because it was all timed with the incidents," said spokeswoman Jo Natale. "We always listen to customers. We didn’t get hundreds of complaints, but a few dozen." Mediate is devastated, writing "I can’t believe Baldwin’s heartfelt ad had to come down because a few people were upset he was kicked off a plane. Everyone makes mistakes; come on, Wegmans, please reconsider." In the meantime, SNL writers were frantically scrambling to prepare for yet another Baldwin cameo to address the issue.
UPDATE 12:20 p.m.: Wegmans has apparently had a change of heart, after all, releasing the following statement: "We regret ending the Alec Baldwin holiday commercials one week earlier than planned in response to a couple of dozen complaints. We have decided to run the commercials again, effective immediately. Clearly, many more people support Alec, as evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of tweets, emails, and phone calls we have received. We enjoyed working with Alec Baldwin and his mom, Carol, and would do it again. We appreciate all the kind things they have said about Wegmans and respect the good work they do for communities.”
