Online supermarket Ocado has been roasted for using millionaire Nigella Lawson to front its budget cookery campaign.
The TV cook launched her recipes this week after it was revealed almost two-thirds of households are looking for cheaper meals to make.
Nigella’s first dish was a “dreamy creamy” peanut butter pasta costing £1.03 a head. But critics said the star’s recipes assume we all have kitchens full of items such as petits pois and cumin seeds.
Shopper Tony Robertson blasted Ocado for using Nigella, 62, for the campaign.
He said: “Why didn’t you get a group of ‘poor people’ to come up with economical meal ideas? Lots of us can cook to a budget. But no, trot out Nigella, the millionaire cook.”
Another critic told Ocado: “Seeing you use her face might mean me moving companies. A rich woman telling me how to feed a family.”
And another said: “Sadly, Nigella, most of us can’t afford Ocado or buy the ingredients to make your lovely recipes.”
Trade magazine The Grocer admitted the star’s name is “not one you’d associate with cooking on bootstraps like Jack Monroe”.
But not all Ocado shoppers were unimpressed. One, Al Carson-Sheard, told Nigella online: “I’m a big fan of yours so it seems a very positive partnership.”
Nigella, who has a range of TV shows, books and cooking utensils, is thought to be worth £14million. Her father is former Tory chancellor, Nigel Lawson.
Ocado’s chief customer officer Laura Harricks said Nigella “makes home cooking accessible for everyone”.
