The last thing we thought we would be writing about today was an over-sexualised ketchup bottle. (No, seriously, this is stupid. We can't believe we're talking about this.)
It's not every day you see condiments being sexualised, but this ketchup has been causing some controversy. The Pizza Hut-branded bottle reads, "Tomato Ketchup. Shake, Squeeze and Squirt," and the customer who stumbled across the bottle is not happy about it. A man from Hull who came across the dodgy slogan has said it sounds like "an app for swingers". If you are working on your own branding and are hoping to avoid such controversies, then check out our roundup of the best branding books.
In an interview for Hull Live, the disgruntled customer says that the slogan on the bottle is "not innocent", and worries that it is inappropriate, especially for a brand he believes is targeted towards children. He also goes on to say, "If I had my niece with me, I would be worried."
In response to the backlash, Pizza Hut has formally apologised for the ketchup bottle and written, "The wording on our ketchup is not meant to cause offence and sorry if this was interpreted this way". We guess if someone finds the words shake, squeeze or, erm, squirt, offensive, that's up to them. It's fairly hard to believe Pizza Hut has had to apologise for it.
Not everyone thinks that the bottle is as sinister as the unhappy gentleman is making it out to be, many users on Twitter have been quite vocal about how they feel about the situation as a whole. One Twitter user responded to the news story with, "He's on his own with this one..." and another said to just, "Have a laugh about it."
What a thing to be ‘outraged’ over 🙄October 23, 2021
He says the label sounded more like "an app for swingers" than sauce marketinghttps://t.co/7F3KeWl7FpOctober 23, 2021
If you are looking to be offended you will always find a way.October 23, 2021
Personally, we can't see anything wrong with this ketchup bottle, and we can't believe Pizza Hut have apologised for it. It's nowhere near as bad as the Anak Malaysia design. If you want to see some more truly awful (and even offensive) designs, why not check out our hilarious roundup of design fails.
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