July 25th 2024.
The trousers for school were advertised as having reinforced knees and grow hems, a useful feature for growing children. However, Sainsbury's came under fire for using a term that is considered offensive and racist. They quickly issued an apology for their mistake and removed the product from their website.
The supermarket, which also owns the clothing brand Tu and catalogue retailer Argos, had listed the product as "grey reinforced knee grow hem" trousers. This phrase, phonetically spelled as "kneegrow," is considered an alternative form of the N-word, according to Hate Base, a resource for online moderators. This sparked outrage from users, with one person pointing out that racists often use this term to bypass filters for the N-word.
One user, Esteru Kwaku, suggested renaming the item and having more diversity in the decision-making process to avoid such mistakes in the future. A political commentator also expressed their concern over the phrasing of the product.
However, there is no evidence that Sainsbury's intentionally chose this wording to cause harm. Some users were initially confused by the issue, having to read the product description multiple times before understanding the problem. But once it was pointed out, they couldn't unsee the issue. The item has been removed from the website, with Sainsbury's stating that it is currently unavailable.
A Tu spokesperson apologized for the upset this has caused and stated that they are urgently updating the product labeling. They also mentioned that they have listened to the concerns raised by users. Kwaku, the political commentator, shared that he noticed the use of this term while his friend was shopping for trousers online. He explains that there are many subtle ways that people use to describe Black people, and terms like "knee grow" or "DEI hire" are just euphemisms for the N-word.
The grow hems feature is designed to help children's trousers last longer by providing extra length that can be let down as the child grows. According to internet archives, Argos had described the trousers as having an elasticated, adjustable waist for a perfect fit, along with reinforced knees and grow hems. Sainsbury's clothing line, Tu, has stated that they will be renaming the trousers and addressing the issue immediately.
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