Spanish retail clothing chain Zara was recently in the news after it faced backlash over a children's t-shirt which was called out for being "sexually suggestive." The controversy began after a woman posted a video of the white, crew-neck shirt featuring black and red lettering that read "The Perfect Snack" across the left side of the chest and "The Strawberry: A small burst of sweet joy" on the right.
Further, the back of the t-shirt showed two halves of the strawberry, one showing the inside of the fruit with the other showing the outside. The caption at the back said, "Take a bite. A burst of sweet delight, making it the perfect summer snack" and "the strawberry: a small burst of joy".
Laura Wilson, 32, the mother of two children who lives in London said that the garment was in the girl's section of the clothing brand's store in Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. Notably, the term "snack" is used for a sexually attractive person.
Ms Wilson said in the clip, "I am not one to be overly sensitive about clothing, and this was in the girl's section. Just wait till you see what's on the back. If you have bought this for your child, you need serious words with yourself, in my opinion."
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by LJ 🪬 (@chaos.to.sanity)
"I'm so shocked. 'Take a bite,' is it just me? Or is this just not OK? I would never have my girls in this T-shirt," she added.
Ms Wilson continued, "It's just plain wrong, and in plain sight."
Explaining the meaning of the same, she told Daily Mail that it made her feel very uncomfortable. “I went in for a browse and saw this t-shirt and all I saw was ‘the perfect snack’. I was instantly taken back by that. I read the other side and thought okay. I didn’t think it could get any worse but when I turned it round, it said ‘take a bite’. I would never have my children in something like that. I thought it was suggestive. I turned round to my partner and asked him if I was reading this right and he agreed that it was awful,” she said.
The 32-year-old said that she thought she was being overprotective at first. However, after many people agreed with her on TikTok and called the garment "vile." She told the outlet, "It's very suggestive. This t-shirt was for a six to seven-year-old and I don't think this is okay. Where it says, 'the perfect snack', this is very suggestive. You say, 'that's a snack' and that is quite suggestive of an attraction. That's how I took it anyway."
"There are some people just saying that it is just strawberries and just talking about strawberries but the language on the top, I would never have my daughter walking around with 'take a bite' on the back of her t-shirt. The majority are in full agreement that the T-shirt is very suggestive, vile and grim and not appropriate for a child," she added.
Zara issued an apology and removed the t-shirt from their store and website. "There was no intention for the use of the word 'snack' on this T-shirt to imply anything other than the traditional meaning of the word, as evidenced by the image of a strawberry on the garment. However, we now understand that some individuals have interpreted the term differently," the brand told theNew York Post.
"Therefore, we have removed the T-shirt from stores and our website. And we apologize for any misunderstanding or offense caused," they added.