These days, parents are under a ridiculous amount of pressure when it comes feeding their kids. Send your kiddos to school with a slice of chocolate cake or even raisins, and you could end up receiving an obnoxious note about packing healthier options. We certainly can't get behind this kind of snack shaming, but teachers in the New Zealand city of Whanganui have recently begun monitoring students' lunches closely for a much better reason.
Last week, a Pak'n Save grocery store in Whanganui erected an enticing display in it's "Aisle of Value" area featuring snacks meant for people along with Scooby Snacks, a brand of dog biscuits, according to Munchies. Because Scooby Doo, Where Are You? is a cartoon that many kids love, parents were understandably confused by the display and the treats' close proximity to actual kid-friendly snacks. So, many moms and dads picked up the Scooby Snacks and fed them to their children. As Scooby would say, "Ruh-roh."
Parents started to realize the mistake after they gave the bone-shaped carob treats to their kids and received responses that the biscuits tasted terrible. The New Zealand Herald reports that many parents in the area took to Facebook to share the mistake in order to warn others and notify the store. One mom wrote, "I was absolutely mortified when I gave them to my daughter. She took one bite and said, 'this is rubbish.' I looked at the packet closely and gasped, 'Oh no, I am so sorry. I just fed you dog food.'" Since the dog treats are not harmful to humans, it's actually kind of funny, but we totally understand why parents were mortified.
Antoinette Laird, head of external relations for Pak'n Save's parent company, told the New Zealand Harold that the Scooby Snacks were removed from the store. Laird issued also an apology saying, "On reflection, we can see how the cartoon characters on the packaging might be confusing. We apologise for any distress this has caused to anyone who bought the product by mistake and will happily offer a refund to any customer in this position." Because so many parents were duped by the display, teachers at Whanganui's schools were notified about the situation and encouraged to check lunch boxes to make sure no more kids eat the dog biscuits.