Girl, 7, gets Tesco to remove 'stupid' sign suggesting superheroes are 'for boys'

Maggie, whose interests include Batman, Spider Man, Frozen, kittens and zombies, pointed the sign out to her mother

Kashmira Gander
Tuesday 25 November 2014 17:31 GMT
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Toys are seen on the shelves of a toy store
Toys are seen on the shelves of a toy store

A 7-year-old girl has taught Tesco a lesson, after a photo of her looking disgruntled next to an advert for a superhero clock captioned: “fun gifts for boys” saw the supermarket agree to remove the sign from its stores.

Karen Cole tweeted a photo of her daughter, Maggie, next to a Marvel Comics alarm clock at the Tower Park branch of Tesco in Poole, Dorset, three days ago. Since then, it has been retweeted over 10,000 times.

“My superhero loving 7yo daughter not impressed when she spotted this sign in @Tesco today @LetToysBeToys,” read the tweet.

In the tweet, Ms Cole tagged both the supermarket giant, and the @LetToysBeToys campaign group who want retailers to stop marketing toys according to gender stereotypes.

Maggie, who is a fan of Batman, Superman, Spider Man, Wonder Woman and The Flash TV series, pointed at the sign and told her mother that Tesco was "being stupid".

"She spotted the sign before I did and pointed it out to me by indignantly saying something like, ‘Well that’s wrong! Anybody can like superheroes, they’re being stupid aren’t they’," Ms Cole told BuzzFeed News.

And the more Maggie’s reading improves, the more she notices that products are often marketed towards girls or boys, her mother added.

"Fortunately it doesn’t seem to have put her off - as well as superheroes she loves Doctor Who, Minecraft, dragons, skeletons and zombies (she had a cemetery cake for her birthday!) but also likes Frozen, princesses, kittens etc.

"She just thinks shops labelliing toys for boys or girls is silly: ‘I can like what I want.’," she said.

A spokesperson from Tesco apologised, and said that the sign will be removed from all of its stores.

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