Supermarket chain forced to change name of 'rape yellow' paint after complaint
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Aldi has been forced to change the name of its "rape yellow" paint after a victim of sexual assault complained.
The woman, in her 50s, told how she began "choking" up when she saw the offending item on a special offer stand.
Aldi forced to change name of 'rape yellow' paint https://t.co/pflrzcp5ZV pic.twitter.com/UCHIWM5cL3
— The Sun (@TheSun) March 25, 2016
The discount chain explained the paint was named after rapeseed — a crop that is yellow in color.
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But the woman, who cannot be named, insists it was an offensive name.
She was shopping with her son at the budget store in Coventry when she noticed the paint.
She told the Coventry Telegraph: "I looked at the paint and thought it can’t possibly say that, you have got to be kidding me, there’s no way they would sell that. I started choking.
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"I got straight out of there. I was furious and upset.
"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. They couldn’t believe what I was saying.
"I contacted Aldi afterwards and they just assumed I was being sensitive because I was a rape victim.
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"How the hell did it get out with that name in the first place?
"You wouldn’t sell something called abortion red or poo brown. To me it’s the same thing, it’s offensive.
"It is a word that is a problem. How many other words can you think of for yellow without using that one?"
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On Aldi's website the one litre tins of paint are sold for £4.99 and listed as "rapeseed yellow".
However in the store the lid of the item says "rape yellow".
Aldi has now changed the label.
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The chain said in a statement: "This paint is a color widely referred to in the industry as ‘RAL 1021 Rape Yellow’, which refers to rapeseed.
"The color name will be altered to rapeseed yellow for all future production of this paint."