Aldi to rename ‘rape yellow’ paint following complaint from sex assault victim
Aldi has been forced to change the name of a “rape yellow” paint sold in the supermarket after complaints from a sexual assault victim.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became angry after spotting the product at a store in Coventry.
@DailyMirror why on earth didn't they call it rapeseed yellow then - as opposed to just rape yellow!!! Duh!!!
— badmum (@77_slinky) March 25, 2016
I think I'm ok for "Rape Yellow" paint @Aldi_Ireland thanks though #weird#random#badchoicepic.twitter.com/990s9sxoGQ
— Dark Glitter (@DarkGlitterK) March 13, 2015
She said she was “upset” when she saw the offensive name, the Telegraph reported.
“I thought maybe I was being sensitive because of my situation, but I sent pictures to my friends and they were all shocked by it,” she said. “I contacted Aldi afterwards and they just assumed I was being sensitive because I was a rape victim.”
Shouldn't products that contain rapeseed have a trigger warning? #YesAllWomen
— BoognishForever (@DamonIcke) June 1, 2014
Responding to the outrage on Twitter, the company said the product name was an abbreviation for “rapeseed yellow” and the color would be altered for future products.
@SMABSO This paint is a colour widely referred to in the industry as ‘RAL 1021 Rape Yellow’, which refers to rapeseed. 1/2
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) March 25, 2016
@SMABSO We can confirm that the colour name will be altered to rapeseed yellow for all future production of this paint. 2/2
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) March 25, 2016
In defense of the name, others said “rape yellow” was clearly the shorter version for the unfortunately-named plant, which is referred to as “canola oil” in North America after being developed for human consumption by Canadian scientists.
last class we read about canola oil and the rapeseed process... so totally turned off, ew...new thing to look for on labels. #nocanola
— organic yams 320 (@lovebylizee) March 23, 2016
Aldi alter 'rape yellow' paint name after sex assault victim complainshttps://t.co/WmEdlX1RIm via @MailOnline - Change the plant name too?
— Matt (@matthew_speaks) March 25, 2016
@TelegraphNews Complaints about what, exactly? It really ought to be obvious what the colour refers to...
— Drew Capener (@_drew_) March 25, 2016
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