I know reading has been on the decline worldwide, and even I haven't actually read Vladimir Nabokov's classic novel or the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation, but surely the name Lolita conjures up a slightly creepy pedophilic image in most people's heads. Maybe not:
Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room.At first I thought this was probably some trendy sales ploy, as if the company was trying to be provocative to make some sort of statement. Alas, it was merely the result of a bunch of idiots in their marketing department:
The Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a whitewashed wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard intended for girls aged about 6, was on sale on the Woolworths website for £395.
Whereas many mothers were familiar with Vladimir Nabokov and his famous novel, it seems that the Woolworths staff were not. At first they were baffled by the fuss. A spokesman for the company told The Times: “What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now.”Of course, that's not even the most alarming thing:
In 2006 Tesco was removed its pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of destroying children’s innocence.It got me thinking, though--have any of you ever met anyone named Lolita? Would you be a bad parent if you named your daughter that?
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