Why Child Porn Forced This London Boutique To Change Its Name
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- Jul 18, 2013 7:00 AM
Though we can all identify with the strange results that occasionally crop up when typing our names into Google, few of us turn up...porn. But, that's precisely what was happening to La Petite Salope, a luxury womenswear line based in East London. Turns out, a Google search for the brand's name produced a series of disturbing images, including what appears to be child pornography.
In French, the phrase "la petite salope" translates to "little slut." And, though creative director Nicola Helgesen says the brand is aware that the name "always had slight connotations, 10 years ago we considered La Petite Salope to be light hearted, friendly, and open to interpretation." Despite Helgesen's attempts to flood Google with the brand's images and report the pornographic results to both the search engine and the Internet Watch Foundation, the efforts came up short and the brand ultimately decided to change its name to La Petite S*****.
The brand will retain its original name for trademark purposes, but the term "salope" has been removed from the label and web site itself. Though some may jump to the conclusion that naming the brand after such a clearly suggestive and derogatory phrase was a mistake, we're inclined to think La Petite S***** is a victim of an unfortunate circumstance. Consider brands such as Nasty Gal, Wildfox, or even Gilt who have maintained successful branding despite the subtext shoppers could associate with their names. What do you think? Was choosing La Petite Salope a petite slip-up? (Telegraph)
Image: Via Telegraph
In French, the phrase "la petite salope" translates to "little slut." And, though creative director Nicola Helgesen says the brand is aware that the name "always had slight connotations, 10 years ago we considered La Petite Salope to be light hearted, friendly, and open to interpretation." Despite Helgesen's attempts to flood Google with the brand's images and report the pornographic results to both the search engine and the Internet Watch Foundation, the efforts came up short and the brand ultimately decided to change its name to La Petite S*****.
The brand will retain its original name for trademark purposes, but the term "salope" has been removed from the label and web site itself. Though some may jump to the conclusion that naming the brand after such a clearly suggestive and derogatory phrase was a mistake, we're inclined to think La Petite S***** is a victim of an unfortunate circumstance. Consider brands such as Nasty Gal, Wildfox, or even Gilt who have maintained successful branding despite the subtext shoppers could associate with their names. What do you think? Was choosing La Petite Salope a petite slip-up? (Telegraph)
Image: Via Telegraph
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