Joke about sex toy sale at Leiden Kruidvat gets laughs from many, annoys some
A sex toy display set up in the checkout aisle at a Kruidvat in Leiden caught some unsuspecting customers off-guard this week. With less than a week to go before the winter gift giving holiday, the sign on the display read, "Sinterklaas is not the only one coming this year."
Below that line, stated "(de Kerstman ook ;-))" referring to the Dutch name for Santa Claus. The sign stood above a stack of Satisfyer Pro 2 vacuum pulse vibrators market on sale.
Grace spotted the sign and posted it on Twitter for a laugh, but to her surprise, a handful of people found it offensive. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many seeing the humor in the situation. She told NL Times, "I do think it's funny. That's why I tweeted about it; Unfortunately, not everyone could see that."
"Crazy that it's in the middle of the store! Children see and read this too! Is that really necessary?" one Twitter user said in response to Grace's post. Others also expressed concern for the parents who may have to figure out how to explain the sign to their kids.
Kruidvat was not entirely pleased by the sign, which was handled by the workers. "The store came up with this itself. And of course we like a bit of humor, that's what Kruidvat is known for. But this is not our style," a spokesperson told RTL Nieuws. "We are a shop for the whole family, and this humor is not part of that." The company asked the store location to take down the sign, and customers said the sign was no longer to be seen.
"I understood it, but it was a good promotion," Grace told NL Times, mentioning that her tweet being viral likely sent more people to the store. In fact, more than 7,500 people favorited the Dutch-language tweet, with over 600 retweets. That even surprised Grace, who said many Dutch media outlets contacted her about it. "It happened so fast, really crazy," she said.
"For the record: I thought this was just as hilarious as you guys," she wrote to people who responded to her.
