Zara has withdrawn a children’s t-shirt from sale following concerns raised by a mother who found the design to be sexually suggestive. The £10.99 white t-shirt, sold at Zara’s Bluewater Shopping Centre branch, featured a picture of a strawberry alongside the words “The perfect snack, take a bite.”
Laura Wilson, 32, from Bromley, South London, noticed the t-shirt while browsing and immediately felt uncomfortable with the messaging. The clothing item, which was being marketed to children as young as six, prompted her to share her concerns on TikTok, where her post quickly gained thousands of views.
“I saw the t-shirt and was instantly taken aback by the phrase ‘the perfect snack,'” Wilson explained. “When I turned it around and saw ‘take a bite,’ I thought it was suggestive. I would never let my children wear something like that.”
Wilson, who admitted she didn’t want to be seen as an overprotective parent, felt a responsibility to speak out. “I posted on TikTok to see if others felt the same, and it’s clear many people shared my concerns,” she said.
The word “snack” is often used in slang to describe an attractive person, as noted in the Urban Dictionary, which defines it as someone who “looks so good you could eat them, not in an innocent way.”
In response to the backlash, a Zara spokesperson stated, “There was no intention for the use of the word ‘snack’ on this t-shirt to imply anything other than the traditional meaning, as illustrated by the strawberry image. However, we now understand that some individuals have interpreted the term differently. We have removed the t-shirt from stores and our website, and we apologize for any misunderstanding or offense caused.”
