Sainsbury's forced to apologize for using a ‘racist’ term in the description of two pair of its pants
Specifically, the supermarket chain claimed that the clothing item had a "knee grow hem," an expression that is apparently also used as a racial slur.
Logo of the British supermarket brand Sainsbury's.
British supermarket chain Sainsbury's was at the center of a controversy recently for simply describing a pair of pants. The brand wanted to point out that the garment had extra space in the knees and an extended hem, highly valued features in children's clothing.
But what they thought was a simple phrase to talk about the two properties of the product, noting that it had a "knee grow hem," turned out to be also an expression used as a racial slur that sparked criticism of the brand on social media:
Given the controversy it inadvertently sparked online, the brand decided not only to remove the two controversial pants (named "Grey Skinny Reinforced Knee Grow Hem Trousers 2 Pack" and "Reinforced Knee Grow Hem Woven Trousers 2 Pack") from its product website, but also to issue a statement, obtained by the BBC, in which they apologized for the mistake:
"We're truly sorry for the upset this has caused. We have listened to the concerns which have been shared and are urgently updating the product labelling."
The apology didn't do much good either. People decided to continue criticizing Sainsbury's for a mistake which, they themselves claim, they made out of ignorance.
The situation reached such a level that other customers, also unaware that the expression was a racist term, came to the defense of the supermarket chain claiming that the people offended by the use of this phrase were exaggerating and simply sought to damage the brand:
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