Scribbler Cards has removed products from its display after parents criticised the gift shop for selling a number of rude badges. The retailer came under fire after a child reportedly spotted one of the eye-catching products - and a parent took to social media to complain.
The badges in question feature a number of graphic slogans that are full of expletives, including "I love a***", "8 out of 10 cats think you're a c***", and "filthy c** s***." Thousands of people liked a tweet condemning the explicit products after a photo of the badges and a report of the incident was shared online by @jamieeast.
Tagging Scribbler in his post, the media personality wrote: "I'm as far from prudish as you can get, but I saw someone put this on Instagram after her young daughter wanted to buy a badge. This is right by the tills at Waterloo station. Are you mad? This feels… a lot." In response, several commenters were quick to support his viewpoint.
"I'm also not a prude but this is designed as the sort of bright shiny object my 11 year old daughter would pick up," wrote one mum.
Another response read: "I'm all for cats using the c-word, but I'm with Jamie on this. Feels a bit…much for the tills?" And a third person replied: "This is repulsive."
However, other commenters defended the store. "I kind of expect it in @scribblercards - I go there for an offensive card, I wouldn’t take my non existent children in there! It's not Clinton's!" read one such reply.
Someone else asked: "What kind of stuff does this shop generally sell?" They added: "If its a regular card shop, then yes, a little too much to have these next to the tills. If it predominately caters for this kind of thing, then maybe not the place for children."
Replying to Mr East's tweet, a member of Scribbler Cards' social media team said: "Hi Jamie, we appreciate you raising these concerns. We've built our brand based on irreverent and often rude humour (which we know is not for everyone) aimed at a mature audience. The products in question are meant to be humourous and are certainly not targeted at children.
"Due to the adult nature of a lot of our products we expect parents to shop with their children at their own discretion. We use PG warnings & try to keep our rude items away from windows but understand this is tricky in smaller shops & regrettably some may still find offence.
"We will definitely be taking your feedback into consideration when merchandising our more risqué products in the future."
A spokesperson from Scribbler Cards told the Mirror: "We always try to make sure that our product is positioned appropriately, and with enough information for our customers. We have been informed of some concerns expressed by customers recently, in relation to the badges. We never want to cause offence, and have decided to remove them from our display, while we have an internal review."
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