Woolies concedes pencil case display ‘outdated’ after backlash

The supermarket giant is under fire for dividing a children’s product into two categories – with the chain conceding the move was outdated.

A Woolworths shelf display that divided pencil cases into “girl” and “boy” categories has sparked outrage among shoppers — prompting the supermarket to concede that the set-up is outdated.

In a post to the supermarket’s Facebook page one customer shared a photograph of a shelf at her local store, showing how pink-coloured pencil cases had been labelled “girl” and darker-patterned styles had been marked as for boys.

“Really Woolworths – girls and boys pencil cases? Why not just ‘pencil cases?’” the customer captioned the photos.

The shopper was not happy to see the pencil cases divided by gender. Picture: Facebook/Woolworths.

Her complaint was backed up by other parents who also took issue with the supermarket dividing pencil cases by gender.

“My daughter who is 14 would say the same thing and definitely would buy the so called boys one!” one person wrote.

“Apparently colours are owned by the sexes,” another commented.

But not everyone agreed with the shopper’s complaint, arguing the gender divide wasn’t a big deal.

“Nothing stopping any gender purchasing either one,” one shopper wrote.

“At least they’re the same price,” another commented.

“How did this actually affect your life?” another customer wrote.

Woolworths responded to the customer’s complaint, thanking her for “bringing this to our attention”.

Woolworths has since conceded that the labelling is outdated. Picture: Facebook/Woolworths.

“We aim to ensure our products are inclusive and agree the names of these pencil cases are dated,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au.

“We’re working to update the names of these products to better reflect community expectations and provide a more accurate description.”

In the last few years, consumers have increasingly called on companies to make children’s products more gender neutral.

One customer started a Change.org petition last year asking Kmart to remove boy and girl labels from its kids’ clothing.

Last October, toy brand Lego announced it would be removing gender labelling from all of its products after study found 71 per cent of boys feared being made fun of for playing with toys marketed at girls.

Lego has vowed to remove gender stereotypes from its toys after an alarming global study unearthed several worrying findings. Picture: Supplied

Consumers can now search for Lego products on its website via interests rather than through boy or girl subsections.

Lego CMO Julia Goldin said the company was committed to making toys more inclusive and stopping “age-old stereotypes that label activities as only being suitable for one specific gender”.

“We know we have a role to play in putting this right, and this campaign is one of several initiatives we are putting in place to raise awareness of the issue and ensure we make Lego play as inclusive as possible,” Ms Goldin said.

“All children should be able to reach their true creative potential.”