Parents are outraged after discovering the word 'rape' in an Aldi children's letter-matching game – but there's an innocent explanation
- Angry parents made the shocking discovery in Aldi kids' letter-matching game
- Kids asked to colour the word 'rape' which labelled a picture of bok choy
- An Aldi spokesperson replied to outraged buyers and explained the situation
Aldi shoppers have been left horrified after finding the word 'rape' in an educational children's toy.
A number of customers made the shocking discovery in a game called 'Roleplay Alphabet Food Box' that is available Australia-wide as part of Aldi's Special Buys selection.
The game asks children to match images of fruits and vegetables with their corresponding names, and place letter of the alphabet into the names.
'Rape' was positioned under an illustration of bok choy, a popular green vegetable.
'Rape' was positioned under an illustration of bok choy, a popular green vegetable (pictured)
Outraged shoppers turned to Facebook to warn parents against buying the toy.
'I was really looking forward to play with this role play alphabet food box with my son. But I cannot explain how how bok choy is rape,' one woman wrote.
Share this article
'Cousin bought cooking letter game for his niece. One of the examples of a four-letter word is "rape" and has a picture of bok choy! Did anyone vet this in Australia?' another asked.
'Please check if you bought the alphabet food box!' someone else warned.
'This is not appropriate for kids! Don't need kids learning how to spell rape!'
A number of customers made the shocking discovery in a game called 'Roleplay Alphabet Food Box' (pictured)
'Please check if you bought the alphabet food box!' someone else warned. 'This is not appropriate for kids! Don't need kids learning how to spell rape'
But an Aldi spokesperson explained on social media that the word has another meaning when pronounced differently.
'We apologise if the word has caused offence, however rape (pronunciation is phonetically "rah-pay") is a term used for green leafy vegetable relating to the broccoli and turnip family often found in European and African cook books.'
The spokesperson then suggested customers return the game for a full refund.
But an Aldi spokesperson explained on social media that the word has another meaning when pronounced differently
One unsatisfied shopper continued and suggested the supermarket rethink the word choice.
'I understand that is a vegetable, however not one that is readily found here in Australia, and surely there could have been a better choice of words for a child to learn to spell,' she wrote.
'You can imagine what the older siblings and cousins thought of that word.'
Bok choy is commonly found in a broad selection of mainstream supermarkets around Australia.
It is part of the 'Brassica rapa' plant species but is not usually referred to as 'rape'.
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
