Waitrose has apologised for "upset caused" after its Christmas advert sparked a major backlash on social media and criticism from charity groups.
The festive ad has also been called out by skin cancer patients and a charity after depicting farmers comparing their sun tans.
The advert, which has been viewed 32,000 times on YouTube in three days, has been criticsed by some who say it glorifies sun tans and failed to highlight the dangers of sunlight.
In the ad, two farmers compare their sun tans while driving along in the sunshine.
The supermarket giant said it was "sorry for the upset caused" after charity Melanoma UK said: " Waitrose can do better than this."
A statement from the grocer said that an on-site medic during the filming of the advert gave advice to its farmers to "stay safe" and added they "made sure everyone wore high factor sun protection".
Criticising the advert, Melanoma UK's chief executive Gill Nuttall told the BBC it was about time "everyone started to look at skin cancer with their eyes wide open".
"The comparing of tans dates back many years, before we knew better," she said.
Melanoma skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK with around 16,000 new cases of melanoma diagnosed each year.
The festive advert shows various clips of farm workers working all year round to create the produce for festive food that many of us enjoy at this time of year.
In one section of the advert, two farmers can be seen comparing their sun tan by rolling their sleeves up as they work in the heat.
The video was also posted to Waitrose's Facebook page - a page that is liked by over 511,000 people - with one person who has melanoma commenting that it is "absolutely astonishing that a company like yourselves should be showing farmers glorifying in their sun tans".
"This is a kick in the teeth for all melanoma patients and for all the organisations trying to educate everyone into the dangers of sun tans," she added.
"What on earth were you thinking to include this in a Christmas advert? Words fail me."
Waitrose replied to the comment and said they were "so sorry to hear this", adding the company supported sun safety and "sell sun care products across our stores".
"The farmers featured are real suppliers, and the images are based on real life stories reflective of their daily work - including this farmer and his sun tan," the Waitrose staff member added on the social networking site.
However, Ms Nuttall was not happy with the response offered by the supermarket chain.
"Waitrose have a great platform to get a safety message out, yet when challenged on social media, their staff point out that they sell sun care products across their stores," she said.
"I'm not sure they quite get the point. This advert isn't about sun cream, it's meant to be their Christmas offering."
A Waitrose spokesperson said: "This advert shows the year-round effort behind our Christmas products and real farmers.
"We fully support sun safety and worked with a medic on set throughout the filming. They made sure everyone wore high factor sun protection, and gave advice to help our farmers stay safe, so we're sorry for the upset caused."
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs in the body.
The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole, according to the NHS.
This can happen anywhere on the body, but the most commonly affected areas are the back in men and the legs in women.
Melanomas are uncommon in areas that are protected from sun exposure, such as the buttocks and the scalp.
In most cases, melanomas have an irregular shape and are more than one colour.
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun is thought to cause most melanomas, but there is evidence to suggest that some may result from sunbed exposure.
The type of sun exposure that causes melanoma is sudden intense exposure. For example, while on holiday, which leads to sunburn.
More than one in four skin cancer cases are diagnosed in people under 50, which is unusually early compared with most other types of cancer.
Over recent years, skin cancer has become much more common in the UK. This is thought to be the result of increased exposure to intense sunlight while on holiday abroad, and more than 2,300 people die every year in the UK from melanoma.
