THE Sainsbury’s Christmas advert – which features two children from Swindon – has been criticised online for portraying an all-black family.

On Saturday, November 14, the supermarket giant released the first part of its three-part festive ad.

The first ad is called Gravy Song and it features a father and daughter on the phone as they discuss the dad’s infamous gravy.

Viewers can hear the father and daughter chat on the phone whilst a montage of Christmas memories is shown on screen.

But since it was first aired, the advert has received controversial feedback online, with some slamming the commercial for ‘not representing them’.

Others went as far as to say they were boycotting Sainsbury’s because of the ad.

Malakhai, 11 and Shannel, eight, from Freshbrook, feature in the advert. Their mum Natasha Mushonga responded to the backlash.

She said: “It hurts that people think that the colour of your skin determines what type of Christmas you should have.

“There are three adverts to show diversity but you can’t win with these people.

I don’t think they wanted it to be about colour diversity. If the advert of another race makes you not want to shop there, well okay then, bye. It’s just sad and unnecessary.

“It’s racism so you learn to live with it. People should learn to love each other.

“I feel bad for them that they actually have the time to sit on a computer and post that about an advert.

"I’m glad Shannel doesn’t know because she cant search for it but Malakhai can because he is in secondary school.”

Sainsbury's responded to the complaints saying: "At Sainsbury's, we want to be the most inclusive retailer. That's why, throughout all our advertising we aim to represent a modern Britain, which has a diverse range of communities. We have three stories of three different families in our advertising.

"What Christmas will look like is uncertain for everyone at the moment, but we wanted to focus on how food can connect people, whether they're physically together or not. These ads aim to evoke memories of Christmas food, which can transport you home wherever you are."

On Monday, November 16 Sainsbury's aired the second ad in the three part series, it features an all white family. 

The advert has the same structure as the previous ad, it featured a mother and sons conversation.

This time the family spoke about loss and spending christmas without a loved one whilst joking about perfectly sliced turkey.

The advert did not recieve the same backlash that the first.