The Importance of Being Educated

Today in The Times, it is reported that Woolworths were forced to withdraw a bed designed for 6 year old girls that was on sale because it was named Lolita. Mothers who saw the product online were understandably horrified at the idea of their little princesses sleeping in a bed named after Nabokov's sexually charged 12 year old subject of the same name.

What makes me laugh is this paragraph:

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.”

Further in the article it states:

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 also brings to mind the episode that toy shops were requested to remove an electric Harry Potter broomstick that vibrated to 'stimulate flight on a broomstick', when one mother complained vehemently that the toy she had purchased for her 4 year old son was giving her 15 year old daughter more enjoyment than her brother.

It makes me laugh to think of the toy designers that came up with these ideas, as well as the branding committee that sit through and rubber stamp them for approval.

One day when I retire I'm going to invent something totally pointless, and outrageously named, targeted for the chav, uneducated market.

That's one way to rake it in.