- Jamie Laing’s Candy Kittens is under fire for sexualising children’s sweets in a collaboration with the show Sex Education.
- Parents and customers are expressing outrage and called for the removal of these explicit sweets from store shelves.
Jamie Laing, Made in Chelsea reality star, faces stern criticism as his company has been accused of sexualising sweets beloved by children. Candy Kittens had been marketing a limited edition Wild Strawberry treats in collaboration with the Netflix series Sex Education.
Pictured: ‘Made in Chelsea’ Reality TV personality and founder of ‘Candy Kittens’, Jamie Lang
Parents were left in shock after purchasing these sweets for their young children, who then came across the explicit descriptions on the back of the candy packets.
Carol Reynolds, 65, was astounded when she witnessed her 11- and 13-year-old granddaughters consuming these treats. Her husband, Michael, 68, had purchased them from their local Co-op in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, oblivious to the risqué content. Carol expressed her shock, stating, ‘I was absolutely horrified. It’s completely inappropriate and just so wrong. The flavor is a favorite of my eldest granddaughter.’
Given Jamie Laing’s status as an influencer and reality TV personality, Carol added, ‘Jamie Laing should know better as he’s an influencer and reality TV star who a lot of young people will be looking up to. They claim their target audience is adults, but they must know kids will eat them? They’re sold in supermarkets next to Haribo. I’m baffled how anyone approved this as a good idea.’
Carol, who works as a medical practice receptionist, lodged a complaint with the gourmet sweets company and was offered free regular candy packets as an apology. However, she felt her concerns weren’t adequately addressed and remarked, ‘It’s dangerous in the world we live in. Have they not thought about the potential impact these words may have on vulnerable children? These should be withdrawn from shelves immediately.’
Tesco have since removed these sweets from their stores.
Other parents expressed their anger online, with one writing in a review on the company’s website, ‘This is just awful and has completely put me off buying your products. I have a 12-year-old that eats these, and the wording on the packaging that she is reading out to me is just wrong. This doesn’t raise any sort of awareness at all. Completely inappropriate for sweets and very disappointing from Candy Kittens. Not impressed.’
An irate parent criticises Candy Kittens
Screen shot taken from the Candy Kittens website
Candy Kittens asserts that it is proud of the collaboration and contends that buyers can make a ‘fully informed purchasing decision’ by applying this controversial approach to only one product. A spokesperson emphasised, ‘Our target audience has always been young adults, never children.'”
