Saturday, February 2, 2008

When Our Beds are Burning...

From the Times Online: “Am I being particularly sensitive, or does anyone else out there think it’s bad taste for Woolies to have a kiddy bed range named ‘Lolita’?.”

The British Woolworths chain have now withdrawn the bed, intended for 6 year old girls, from sale - but reportedly, no-one on their staff, including their website design team, had heard of Nabokov's novel, either of the film adaptationss, or any other use of the term until it was pointed out by a justifiably angry mother. That's not as disturbing as the possibility that someone deliberately intended it as a sick joke, but it's still decidedly sad - particularly as the store also sells books (though not that book) and DVDs, including the DVDs of both movies!

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