A furious teacher is petitioning for Tesco to remove ‘utterly inappropriate’ sweets from its shelves.
Bobbi Kumari, a 47-year-old secondary school Christian sex education teacher, launched a petition on Friday (3 November) after watching a video shared online showing sweets created by gourmet sweet brand Candy Kittens in collaboration with the hit Netflix show Sex Education.
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The clip - which was not posted by Bobbi - shows a horrified woman grabbing the limited-edition sweets off the top of the shelf, claiming to be 'shaking with anger' before approaching other shoppers and staff about the product.
Although she’s been branded a ‘Karen’ online, defiant Bobbi believes the sweets ‘violates’ the innocence of children and that they should only be available in adult shops, rather than on the shelves next to other sweets.
Candy Kittens was founded by Made In Chelsea’s Jamie Laing. The sweets at the centre of the debate are the Wild Strawberry-flavoured vegan gummies, described as 'celebrating sex' and feature some condom-shaped sweets in the packet.
Bobbi’s petition has attracted over 4,000 signatures.
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"Someone sent me that video and instantly I was horrified that children are now going to come across these kinds of messages in their sweets,” the London-based teacher said.
"They are available in the same places that little children will be buying Haribo or other sweets. I was horrified at the impact. My heart was grieved.
"The packaging has signs and graphics that are sexually rooted. From what I understand there's also a condom-shaped sweet inside the package.
"I just considered the impact that this could have on a generation of children. I know it sounds melodramatic but it's someone's innocence that could be violated in a split second."
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She thinks the product should only be available to purchase in adult shops or adult sections of shops where they sell other age-restricted items like alcohol and cigarettes.
Bobbi said: "They have so many negative views from parents who are horrified.
"But others are slagging off parents saying 'Ignore all these Karens, if you don't want your kids eating these sweets then don't give them to them'.
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"They're belittling the concerns and outrage of parents by saying 'this is not a big deal'.
"I think [it would only be suitable] in adult shops or adult sections, maybe where they're selling alcohol or cigarettes.
"Don't let them be anywhere near where young children are going to be purchasing.”
The back of the sweet packaging reads: "Sweets and sex. They go hand in hand, obviously. After all, they both aim to make you feel good, right?
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"So we’ve teamed up with the hit Netflix show Sex Education to celebrate sex - the fun times, the awkward times, and the downright dirty times. No judgement here, just a whole lot of love.
"Unleash your wild side with our fruity explosion of Wild Strawberry vegan sweets, we've even added in some condom-shaped sweets in each pack to spice things up."
A Candy Kittens spokesman said: "Our target audience is and has always been young adults - never children.
"We are proud of our collaboration with Netflix Sex Education, and the topics the partnership represents.
"We applied the collaboration to only one product in our range, giving consumers the choice to make a fully informed purchasing decision."
Tyla has contacted Tesco for comment.
Topics: Shopping, Sex Education, Sex and Relationships, Food and Drink
Gregory Robinson