Jackdaw - // The whole point has been missed. The question is not about the layout of the mug but whether Sainsbury's were right to cave in and withdraw it from sale. //
That depends on the individual's point of view.
For people who think that the world is over-obsessed with political correctness, and that 'snowflakes' rule the world, then this was indeed a 'cave in' of stratospheric proportions.
My own view is that the mug was badly designed, and the implications of that bad design leading to misinterpretation and offence, were missed by whomever sanctioned its manufacture.
I think Sainsbury's, as a major retailer, will have legitimate concerns about the damage to its brand caused by bad publicity, and whether that bad publicity is warranted or not is, once again, a matter of individual opinion.
It is perfectly possible for the mugs to be re-designed with the complete quote in the same typeface, and the market for the mugs is open with no controversy.
Just because it's easy to label people who were upset about the implications of the design as it is as 'snowflakes' and huff and puff about them 'getting a life' and 'finding something to moan about' and so on, does not mean that they did not actually have a valid point of protest in the first place.