City Beach Thinks Prank Pregnancy Test Is Funny, Angry Mother Apparently Does Not
City Beach has gone and put its foot in its mouth with a prank pregnancy test product that has left one mother raging.
The woman claimed she went into the Aussie surf chain’s North Lakes store with her daughter, only to be incredibly offended and insulted by this doozy of a gag:
The packaging claims the Bigmouth Inc. product – a fake pregnancy test that always returns a positive result – is “Great for: Marriage! Extortion! Laughs!”
The mother, who remains anonymous, described the faux-pregnancy test as “ridiculously offensive”, and explained her view by saying: “You do realise young teenage girls shop in your stores right? You do realise that many mothers (including not-yet mothers) have gone through countless & expensive IVF procedures in order to achieve a positive result on a REAL pregnancy stick.”
The woman said she removed the post after receiving a backlash, with a number of comments trashing the mother not the store.
“I never expected that posting my opinion would attract comments like ‘I hope your baby dies’, or ‘maybe you should do your shopping online from the kitchen where you belong,’” she told news.com.au.
The woman allegedly complained to the girl at the counter, who informed her they would not remove the product from their shelves, as it’s the buyer’s job to ensure all sold products are bought according to the store’s standards.
City Beach has done a very speedy 180 turn on this one, however, and confirmed it is removing the product from all its stores.
In a statement to news.com.au, marketing manager Joshua Henry-Hicks said, “City Beach values all customer feedback. In light of the concerns raised on Facebook, we have decided to remove the ‘Prank Pregnancy Test’ from all of our stores effective immediately. It was never our intention to cause any offense and we apologise unreservedly for any distress the product may have generated for any of our customers.”
But it seems a large number of people are still outraged that the store would give in to one individual complaint, with posts to the City Beach Facebook page reading, “I think this product is wonderful top job I’ll be buying this again in a flash.”
Another user posted, “I find it quite sad and disturbing that a company gives in to one person that over reacts, rather than standing up and politely telling that person you appreciate her point of view but it’s a prank, as clearly marked on the packaging, and that to withdraw it is more costly to you than to keep it. Minority rules. What a shame.”
One user was slightly more blunt about it, calling the woman “an absolute joke” and saying “If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Just because you couldn’t find it funny doesn’t mean everyone else has to suffer because of it. Probably vote for the greenies as well ? Its do gooders like you that is the reason for our pathetic judicial systems.”
To whoever the person is who complained regarding the fake pregnancy test. You are an absolute joke of a human being….
Posted by Will Alexander on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
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