Tableware company removes bowl featuring smiling Anne Frank cartoon from collection

Tableware company Blond Amsterdam has removed a bowl featuring a smiling Anne Frank cartoon drawing from store shelves after the imagery on the bowl stirred up controversy. The Amsterdam-area company said on Monday that revenue from the bowls already sold will be donated in full to a charity, though that charity has not yet been chosen.

The Israel Information and Documentation Center criticized the depiction of a smiling Anne Frank used to sell bowls in the company’s Hollands Glorie line. The lobbying group for Jewish and Israeli issues called the bowls “extremely inappropriate,” and was among several advising the item be removed from stores.

"The series in which the bowl appeared should be a positive reminder of Dutch scenes and heroes that we are proud of. Unfortunately, this feeling does not come across to everyone in the way we had envisioned. This was absolutely not our intention,” Blond Amsterdam wrote in response to the criticism. The company said they were taken aback by the public response.

People who have already bought the service can exchange it, or return it free of charge.