This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7222008.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Woolworths withdraws 'Lolita' bed | Woolworths withdraws 'Lolita' bed |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Bedroom furniture for young girls with the brand name Lolita has been withdrawn by Woolworths following complaints from parents. | Bedroom furniture for young girls with the brand name Lolita has been withdrawn by Woolworths following complaints from parents. |
| A parenting website said it was in "unbelievably bad taste" to give the bed the same name as a novel about a sexually precocious young girl. | A parenting website said it was in "unbelievably bad taste" to give the bed the same name as a novel about a sexually precocious young girl. |
| Woolworths said the £395 Lolita Midsleeper Combi was withdrawn when the matter was brought to its attention. | Woolworths said the £395 Lolita Midsleeper Combi was withdrawn when the matter was brought to its attention. |
| Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel is about a man's sexual obsession with a girl. | Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel is about a man's sexual obsession with a girl. |
| Catherine Hanly, editor of parenting website raisingkids.co.uk, was among the parents to complain about the furniture advertised on the Woolworths website. | |
| It has become a name that is synonymous with sexual precocity and the fact that it is tied to a girl's bed - it literally couldn't be worse taste Catherine Hanly, parenting website editor | |
| She said a Woolworths press officer had told her staff running the website "had no idea" of the word's connotations. | |
| "I expect a company like Woolworths to actually know what it means and the connotations and stuff," she told BBC Radio Five Live Breakfast. | |
| "It has become a name that is synonymous with sexual precocity and the fact that it is tied to a girl's bed - it literally couldn't be worse taste." | |
| A Woolworths spokeswoman said: "Now this has been brought to our attention, the product has been removed from sale with immediate effect. | |
| She said the suppliers, who advertise the product on the Woolworths' website, would be asked how the branding came about. | |
| It is not the first time retailers have been criticised for using branding with sexual connotations on goods marketed for children. | |
| In 2005, WH Smiths came under fire for selling youngsters stationery bearing the Playboy bunny - a symbol of the pornography empire. |