A pair of pants from a children’s multipack in Poundland features a Japanese symbol on the front, but when mum Nicola Pritchard Googled the translation she was horrified
A mum is calling on Poundland to remove a set of children’s knickers from sale after branding them sexually inappropriate.
Nicola Pritchard bought a £2.50 four-pack of pants from budget retailer Poundland’s Pepco range last month to give to her 10-year-old daughter, but was left horrified after her baffled daughter asked what the Japanese symbol on the front of one meant. The mum, 40, Googled the symbol and discovered it translated as a slang word for ‘cat’ or ‘pussycat’ in both Chinese and Japanese.
The mum-of-three said she was ‘gobsmacked’ by the discovery and immediately contacted Poundland to complain about the ‘inappropriate’ symbol. Nicola believes the knickers, sold as part of the store’s Japanese-themed cat range, were incorrectly processed and is calling for them to be urgently pulled off the shelves. The discount retail giant said that although they were part of a wider Japanese-themed cat range they “understand why” Nicola questioned one item out of context and apologised.
Nicola, from Cannock, Staffordshire, said: “I had previously bought some [knickers] for my daughter with a different design and she had said how comfortable they were. I thought she would like these ones. They were in a pack of four and you could only see the front pair was gingham. None of them had anything to do with Japanese symbols apart from this random one in the pack.
“When I took them home, she asked me ‘what does this mean Mum?’ I said ‘I don’t know, I didn’t notice it’. So I put into Google Translate and Google Lens and it said that the symbol on the front of her knickers is the slang term for cat. In other words, it’s ‘pussy, puss, moggy’, something like that. If the pants had anything to do with cats, like pictures of cats or something like that [that would be fine] but there’s no correlation as to why this symbol should be on there, especially on children’s pants. I was absolutely gobsmacked. These [even] come in ages three to four in Poundland.”
Nicola said she emailed Poundland to complain about the design and claims the head office told her they would launch a full investigation into the underwear. But when Nicola returned to the store days later, she was shocked to discover the pants were still being sold in the high-street store.
Nicola said: “It seemed like they weren’t taking this seriously at all. I went into the store [days after complaining] and they were still selling them. The fact that these are on girls’ knickers is baffling. How it was able to get through production, I can’t get my head round how it managed to get through and to sale. It’s got no place on children’s knickers. I think there’s sexual connotations to it. It’s not even the proper name for cat, it’s the slang name. I can’t see any reason why they should be on girls’ knickers. It’s completely inappropriate. The idea that that’s printed on the front of knickers for children turns my stomach.”
She added: “They should be recalled. I truly believe that Poundland didn’t know and there was a problem in manufacturing but that it has been missed somewhere along the line. I don’t think they’ve done it intentionally.”
A Poundland spokesman said: “While these are part of a wider Japanese-themed cat range that includes socks and vests, we understand why Nicola questioned one item out of the context of the whole range. It goes without saying we apologise for that, and we appreciate her getting in touch with us.”
