Grocery chain CEO sorry for his "unfortunate" song choice
LONDON -- The CEO of British supermarket chain Sainsbury's has apologized after being caught on camera singing "We're in the Money" following the takeover of Walmart's unit Asda. Mike Coupe was preparing for an ITV interview to discuss the $10 billion deal when caught on microphone singing the song from the musical "42nd Street."
Coupe sang "we're in the money, the sky is sunny, let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along." He later described it as "an unguarded moment" before settling down to speak.
Coupe, a musician in his spare time who hopes Sainsbury's will make an additional 500 million pounds in profit with the merger, apologized and said he was merely composing himself before the interview.
He called it "an unfortunate choice of song from the musical ... I saw last year and I apologize if I have offended anyone."
The British grocery chain failed to see the humor in ITV's decision to post the clip.
A spokesman for Sainsbury's told The Guardian newspaper: "We all know these songs stay in your head. To attach any wider meaning to this innocent, personal moment is preposterous."
The value of Coupe's 1.28 million shares in Sainsbury's rose over half a million pounds ($750,000) Monday after the deal's announcement.
