Richard and Tracey Shiner were furious after taking a closer look at a bottle of shower gel they had purchased for their 8-year-old granddaughter.
The bright pink bottle labeled “Snow Fairy” seemed like the perfect bath time accessory for a little girl. After giving the bath set to her granddaughter, Tracey looked at the bottle and was shocked to see a message encouraging the user to “find someone you really like and invite someone into the shower” to enjoy it fully.
“It’s wrong,” the 54-year-old grandmother complained to The Sun. “If I wanted something like that I’d have gone into an Ann Summers shop.” Ann Summers is a lingerie and sex-toy store popular in the United Kingdom.
The bottle was part of a “Little Snow Fairy” bath set purchased from Lush, a high-end cosmetics company based out of the UK known for promoting fair trade and advocating against the use of animals for product testing.
The Shiners assumed the bath set was meant for children because of the playful title and bright colors. “It didn’t say anything about age restrictions or anything,” Richard Shiner complained. “It was called ‘Little Snow Fairy’ which to me indicates it’s ideal for kids.”
He explained what happened after the gift was opened in an interview with The Sun,
The instructions on the shower gel says: ‘How to use: If you really don’t know how to use this, then we suggest you find someone you really like and invite them into the shower with you to demonstrate.’ I couldn’t believe it said that. Then of course Macy was asking me what it meant. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I had to pretend it meant she could bath with Buddy. But that’s not really appropriate either. It was the only thing I could think of to say to her at the time.”
Richard contacted Lush headquarters to make a formal complaint.
I phoned up and a girl answered the phone and although she didn’t actually laugh, I could tell from her tone of voice that she thought it was fine. I said ‘I don’t think it’s appropriate. It should have an age warning on it.’
She put me on to the manager and he said, ‘They’re meant to be tongue in cheek.’ I said to him: ‘It’s wrong. If I wanted something like that, I’d have gone to an Ann Summers shop.’
And I told him, ‘Innuendo amongst adults is fine, but when you’ve got to explain to an eight-year-old what it means, I think that’s wrong.’”
Do you think the company is at fault for selling an adult product to children, or should the Shiners have paid more attention before making their purchase?
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