PHOTO: Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillipe Reunite
25 Funniest Tweets From Parents This Week
Parents Say Pornographic Candy Wrappers Are Not All That Sweet
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True, Sex
A dad was disturbed by what he saw on his kids' candy wrapper. Credit: Europics / CEN
Simon Simpkins of West Yorkshire was at the market shopping with his wife. They decided to buy some Haribo brand Maoam (pronounced ma-o-am) candy for their children, according to London's Daily Mail.
Then he noticed the labels.
Simpkins' quotes, from the Daily Mail, are perfectly priceless and brilliantly British. "The lemon and lime are locked in what appears to be a carnal encounter," the chap said. "The lime, whom I assume to be the gentleman in this coupling, has a particularly lurid expression on his face."
Are these wrappers inappropriate or just silly? Credit: Europics / CEN
Simpkins caused quite a row (American translation: made a fuss), having a "heated exchange" with the store manager, according to the Daily Mail. His wife, "became quite distressed and had to sit down in the car park." (In America, we call that a parking lot.)
A spokesperson for Haribo, the German candy maker that manufactures the offending sweets, told the Mail that, "This jovial Maoam man is very popular with fans, both young and old."
Based on those pictures, we can see why he would be popular. The company slogan, by the way, is "Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo." Haribo, which is an acronym for Hans Reigel, Bonn, the founder and the company's headquarters, made its name in the United States when it introduced gummi bears in the 1980's.
Further digging on the Haribo website found the sound of a moaning man on Planet Haribo, the company's interactive play space for kids. Since it's a pop-up window, we can't link to it, but go to the candy company's site yourself and take a listen.
"Ever since I was a little girl, Maoam had funny TV commercials for kids," said Dagmar Kappel, a German teacher now living stateside, and the friend of a ParentDish staffer. "That's what they are known for."
What do you think? Are the candy labels offensive? Or sweet?
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Candy Cane Trees
A candy maker creates candy cane trees from ropes of hand-pulled candy.
-
This Treat A Bad Trick: Halloween Candy Laced With Marijuana
Public safety officials in Southern California are warning parents to be on the lookout for marijuana-laced or any other type of tainted candy on Halloween.
During a news conference Wednesday, Los Angeles Police teamed up with members of the Burbank Police Department to urge parents to inspect every piece of candy a child receives while out trick-or-treating.
Officers warned-- If it's open, spoiled or looks strange, throw it away.
-
Kid Steals 4K From Parents For Candy
A kid in Ukraine stole $4,000 dollars from his parents which was sitting under a sofa. Obviously not the best place to hide money but he took that money out and spent it on candy. Patrick Jones brings it to you.
-
9-Year-Old Steals Parents Savings, Spends It on Candy
Kids love candy. They love it so much they throw fits about it. But a 9-year-old Ukrainian boy spent $4,000 in candy land.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 2 of 10)
8-30-2009 @ 5:35AM
DENA said...Children mimic what they see and hear. It is not a good depiction of what children should see. It's obviously in poor taste 9no pun intended) and should be repackaged. Yes, children see more than you think.
9-01-2009 @ 12:01PM
Jamie said...I really did think it was a pickle. But I guess a pickle and cherry flavored candy would not be nice. Anyway, thanks for the replies to my comment. I have to admit I do not see these ads as sexual. I know my 5 year old and candy. He would have the wrapper ripped off so fast that he would not even have time to notice the images on the wrapper. That is just who he is. For those that are offended, I don't know what to tell you. Talking to your children about sex does not turn them into sexually active youths. If this candy forces you to talk about sex to your teens, I say it is a win win. Keeping our kids safe is the most important thing. Information and knowledge is power!
8-28-2009 @ 3:17AM
Natasha said...Oh my - these are my daughter's favourite type of candy just because they taste so good! No one in our family has even noticed the pictures on them, mainly because you open them up to get the separate wrapped pieces of candy inside....but also because they are just silly pictures of fruit as far as I can tell! Compared to the slogans on clothing you can get in the UK (cherry pie, cutie pie etc) I certainly don't regard the wrappers as offensive. Perhaps you need to have a certain type of attitude towards sex to read it into candy wrappers.
NB - we do have nudity in ads in the UK, images of people using shower gel discreetly on acceptable parts of their bodies usually, but I don't think this can be compared; my kids certainly see nothing lewd or lascivious (just lots of kids toys and products!) Advertising standards are also quite strict about what ads can be shown before 9pm.
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:04PM
Will said...LMAO!!!! WoW!!!!
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:18PM
Tony said...The current status of this poll only shows how tight everyone's underwear is in the US.
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:44PM
Lisa said...More like how dirty their minds are... If someone can take something innocent and get offended about it, they're the one with the problem.
8-29-2009 @ 7:21PM
maggie said...First of HE is ENGLISH.!
Still USA bashing?
Second.....LURID?
Get a life
8-29-2009 @ 2:31PM
Liana said...good for this father for speaking up. one of my pet peeves actually, the way sex is used to sell EVERYTHING. give it a rest people...whatever happened to creativity?
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 5:12PM
Addison Williams, Jr. said...Excuse me, but be for real. Are we really talking about a lime having sex with a lemon and some cherries? Give me a blessed break here! He ASSUMES the lime is a male? I would love to see him explain to his children why the little pictures are offensive! Can you imagine the blank looks he would draw from them.
Somebody really needs to sort out their priorities. (Weasley)
8-29-2009 @ 7:15PM
Wanda said...Give me a break! There is nothing on these candy wrappers that can be called lewd unless you have a seriously twisted mind. This reminds me of the ridiculous "Bert and Ernie are gay" nonsense a few years back. Do people really have nothing better to do than to try to make something dirty out of things that are completely innocent?
8-29-2009 @ 8:24PM
Princess said...I don't understand how anyone can see fruit as sexual. Just how kinky are you Liana? What do you use fruit for in your house? Because in mine it's used as an edible item and edible only!
8-29-2009 @ 2:34PM
Someone over the rainbow said...Im not really a fan of candy any more.
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:39PM
josh said...i think people have alot worse things in this world to worry about, than whats on a candy wrapper that kids never pay attention to anyhow
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:45PM
kirble said...I went and checked the Haribo website. I found the supposedly "moaning man" in the Museum portion of Planet Haribo. All it seems to be is the sound of a man admiring art. What's wrong with people?
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 2:49PM
Bug said...hasn't anyone noticed how suggestive the commercials are on tv at any given time of day? thought they outlawed that but wait...Bush overturned those laws...ya, that's it...deregulation.
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 3:12PM
Pretzel said...The morons bitching about this need to get a life. They find fault with anything they can think of just to bitch bitch bitch.
Reply
8-30-2009 @ 9:05AM
skipper said...get a frigen life........another example of a jackass over the big pond.its candy...havin fun,kids see so much worse in car advertisement......
8-29-2009 @ 8:34PM
Eric Pizzoferrato said...OMG!!!! I'M SO ARROUSED. GONNA RUN TO THE STORE AND BUY SOME LEMONS!!!
8-29-2009 @ 3:23PM
Winsyrstrife said...Maoam!! Now available in Poppin' Cherry, or Yaoi Lemon!
Reply
8-29-2009 @ 3:31PM
Rick Badman said...If that is how the Brits market a candy, imagine how they might market bananas on TV and billboards with models pretending they are sex toys as they place them in their mouths.
Reply