Classical Gasp
I can’t define it, but I know quality bedroom furniture when I see it….
There are places you can go and feel like you start losing points off your IQ just by walking in the door. Places like your local Motor Vehicle Department, a Kansas Board of Education meeting and Thanksgiving dinner at the Spears’ house.
After this weekend, we can add Woolworth’s to the list.
From the first new product meeting, throughout the entire marketing process, during the whole chain of ordering and delivery, from stocking the shelves right up to ringing up the sales, not a single person associated with the entire procedure thought that maybe there would be a problem if the store sold a product for little girls called the Lolita Bed.
Sure. What could go wrong marketing a children’s bed that evoked images of an older dude having sex with a 12-year old girl? The only way this could have been more of a disaster would be if each bed came with Jon-Benet Ramsey designer sheets.
I take that back. The whole thing could be more embarrassing if, like Woolworth’s executives, you came out and said it was a totally innocent mistake and that no one in the entire firm had any idea of who Lolita was or the connotations associated with the term. Maybe passing the G.E.D. should be a requirement for being a vice-president at the store.
My favorite part is where the executives explained they had to look up “Lolita” on Wikipedia. It’s only one of the major novels of the 20th century. It’s only been made into two different movies including one by Stanley Kubrick.
One explanation is all the Woolworth execs went to business school and studied only discount store operations. Unfortunately, at least some of their customers had a liberal arts education that included modern literature. Or some passing knowledge of controversial movies since the 1960s.
Luckily for the Woolworth’s officials they typed Lolita into the search engine correctly, otherwise they would have assumed the bed was named after a neighborhood in New York City.
Are we being too harsh on Woolworth’s here? I don’t think so. Is it too much to ask that somebody in the organization picked up on this?
I’ll be the first to admit I can’t name all of Shakespeare’s plays, but I know enough not to name a set of steak knives after Macbeth.
Maybe it’s time for Woolworth’s to start stocking books.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:20 am
That news story reminded me of when Tesco started selling a Peekaboo Pole Dancing Kit and most of their stores were stocking it under kids toys. Coincidence? Conspiracy, more like.
That’s right - the CEOs of all major high street stores, fast food chains and supermarket franchises are all dirty fucking paedophiles. I’ve watched Dogma and I’m telling you, it’s the truth.