Spanish retail clothing chain Zara recently came into the news when it faced criticism over a children’s T-shirt that was described as “sexually suggestive.” The controversy began when a woman posted a video of a white, crew-neck shirt with black and red letters that read “The Perfect Snack” on the left side of the chest and “The Strawberry: A Small Burst of Sweet Joy” on the right side.
In addition, the back of the T-shirt showed two halves of a strawberry, one showing the inside of the fruit and the other the outside. The caption on the back read, “Take a bite. A whiff of sweet joy, making it the perfect summer snack” and “Strawberries: A little whiff of joy”.
Laura Wilson, 32, a mother of two from London, said the outfit was in the girls’ section of the clothing brand’s store at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. The word “snicker” is used to describe a sexually attractive person.
“I’m not very sensitive about clothes, and this was in the girls’ section. Wait until you see the back. If you bought this for your child, in my opinion you need to have a serious talk with yourself,” Ms Wilson said in the clip.
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“I’m so shocked. ‘Eat,’ is it just me? Or is this not okay? I would never want to see my girls in this T-shirt,” she said.
Ms Wilson added: “This is absolutely wrong, and it’s out there for all to see.”
Explaining its meaning, he said daily Mail This made her feel very uncomfortable. “I went in to browse and saw this T-shirt and all I saw was ‘Perfect Snack’ written on it. I was immediately shocked by that. I read the other side and thought it was okay. I didn’t think anything could be worse than that but when I turned it over, it said ‘Have a bite’. I never want my kids to be in anything like that. I thought it was suggestive. I looked at my partner and asked him if I was reading it right and he also agreed it was horrible,” she said.
The 32-year-old said she thought she was being overly protective at first. However, many on TikTok agreed with her and called the garment “disgusting.” She told the outlet, “It’s very suggestive. This T-shirt was for a six- to seven-year-old child and I don’t think that’s okay. Where it says, ‘Perfect Snack,’ it’s very suggestive. You say, ‘This is a snack,’ and that’s quite an indication of attraction. That’s how I took it anyway.”
She said, “Some people are saying it’s just strawberries and talking about strawberries, but the language at the top, I would never want my daughter walking around with ‘Take a Bite’ written on the back of her T-shirt. Most people completely agree that this T-shirt is extremely vulgar, disgusting and serious and not appropriate for a child.”
Zara apologized and removed the T-shirt from its stores and website. The brand said, “The word ‘snack’ on this T-shirt was not used to denote anything other than the traditional meaning of the word, as evidenced by the image of the strawberry on the garment. However, we now understand that some individuals have interpreted the word differently.” New York Post.
“Therefore, we have removed the T-shirt from stores and our website. And we apologise for any misunderstanding or offence caused,” he added.