Marks and Spencer has said that it is embarrassed by the discovery that its new brand of ice-cream and related products has a name which in certain parts of the world can mean female genitalia.
"We launched our Beaver range of ice cream related products in good faith. The name was chosen because we were looking to identify ourselves with the Environment. We are stunned by the discovery that we are selling rude food," a company spokesperson said.
The situation was made worse by the extensive and expensive advertising campaign they had launched. Scenes included:
- Twiggy inviting people to lick her beaver (an iced lolly)
- Mylene Klass inviting people to dive into her Beaver (a tub of ice cream)
- Erin O'Connor saying that her Beaver is perfect for a hot banana.
Stuart Rose, Chief Executive of M&S, dismissed claims that the whole issue was a tawdry publicity seeking device. "I suppose we have spent so long selling women's lingerie, maybe subconsciously our minds were still in that ball park." he said.
