Every now and again, one of those rare stories comes up. You know the ones – the ‘PC gone mad’ ones that actually do seem to be fairly silly decisions from someone a bit too desperate not to offend.As far as I can tell, this story fits the bill:
Here’s what happened:
BARMY shop bosses axed a tiny pig from a kids’ toy farm set – in case it upset Muslim and Jewish parents.
…
But after writing to the ELC’s customer services she got an email reply admitting the pig had been removed in case it upset Muslim or Jewish parents. Both religions ban the eating of pork because they consider the pig an unclean animal.
Just look at that line:
the pig had been removed in case it upset Muslim or Jewish parents.
Muslim or Jewish parents.
This caused some discussion on both the EDL Facebook page and the Early Learning Centre page as well. The statement given on there doesn’t mention Muslims or Jews at all. It’s also noticeable that ELC mentions it’s a *global* brand, and that feedback on the pig came from ‘some parts of the world’.
[Early Learning Centre Hello Jennie
ELC is a global brand, which means we need to be aware of the full range of customer expectations and cultural differences. The decision to remove the pig from our Goosefeather Farm set was taken in response to customer feedback in some parts of the world.
We recognise that pigs are familiar farm animals – especially for our UK customers. Taking on board all the customer feedback, we have decided to reinstate the pig and to no longer sell the set in those international markets where it might create an issue. Any customers who have bought Goosefeather Farm in the last few months will be able to order a pig free of charge to complete their set via our website in the coming weeks.]
http://www.facebook.com/elcuk/posts/165843796782923
It does seem like it was an ‘economy of scale’ issue – rather than a ‘look at the PC gone mad UK’!’ thing…
The result of such biased and misleading headlines can be seen here:
***Caution*** Do not read if easily offended
http://www.facebook.com/English.Defence.League.EDL/posts/167563149931415
and here (same warning applies)
http://www.facebook.com/English.Defence.League.EDL/posts/169545803075353
*sigh*
Interesting to see this article in the “Daily Fail” though, about a white supremacist who had been imprisoned for posting clips calling for a racial war against minorities. The comments are somewhat disturbing. I wonder where he got his ideas from?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330121/Gareth-Hemingway-jailed-racist-YouTube-clips-calling-holy-war.html