Poland’s largest drugstore chain, Rossmann, has withdrawn a cosmetics line targeted at teenagers following controversy over its sexually explicit slogans and the brand’s actions on social media towards a woman who criticised its marketing.
“Make me wet”, “I like it rough clean”, “Show me your dirties” and “Sleep with me” are some of the suggestive phrases used (in English) on the packaging of products from Bio.Teen, which had been selling its skincare products in Poland exclusively in the stores of Rossmann, a German-owned retailer.
The abbreviations “MILF” and “DILF” – which normally stand for “Mother I’d like to F**k” and “Dad I’d Like to F**k” respectively – also appear on their products.
Such language has angered many people, who say that it is particularly inappropriate for products targeted towards teenagers and that, according to Bio.Teen, are inspired “solely by the idea of teen life”. The firm’s website says it is based in Italy, though it appears to only sell its products in Poland.
One of the critics – Karolina Liczbińska, a podcaster and journalist – began sharing images of the controversial products on her Instagram account.
““Make me wet” and “MILF” on the label of a skin tonic I would consider at most cringe or desperate marketing, but why is it aimed at children?” she wrote in one post, tagging Bio.Teen’s official account.
In response, Bio.Teen began leaving suggestive comments beneath some of Liczbińska’s posts, including “What melons” followed by a winking emoji under a photo of her wearing a bikini.
The firm’s social media account also messaged Liczbińska privately in Polish thanking her for her criticism but adding (in Polish) that “we are not hiding anything, just like you in some of your photos”. That sparked further outrage when Liczbińska shared a screenshot of the message.
Bio.Teen’s CEO, asked by Polish news service Interia to comment on the controversy, argued that ”the topic of sex should not be stigmatised” and ”people have the right to sex education”. The CEO – who was not named – also claimed that their products are not marketed towards children.
“Our products are specialised and intended for young people aged 16-24 who have skin problems and make their own decisions. I don’t know where the opinion that these are products for children came from? These products are not in toy stores or in the children’s section,” said the CEO.
However, following the heavy backlash against the brand on social media, Rossmann announced that it would be withdrawing Bio.Teen’s products from both its online and stationary stores. Its website already no longer features the items.
The firm said that, although it would not comment “on the behaviour of Bio.Teen on social media”, it “would never dare to offend our clients” and apologised to Karolina for her experience with Bio.Teen
A Polish schoolgirl who set up a fake online shop that helps victims report domestic violence without alerting their abuser has won an EU award https://t.co/kJVgEotgoU
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 15, 2021
Commenting on the retailer’s decision, Liczbińska told Notes from Poland she was “glad that Rossmann took swift action and removed the products from the shelves, but I wish they were more clear about whether their deal with Bio.teen is off or if the products will come back under different names and designs”.
She believes that the brand acted “completely unprofessionally” and “should not get away with just a slap on the wrist”.
“Still, I’m just happy that young girls will not be exposed to these slogans,” added Liczbińska. “I’m far from being sex-negative, but there should be zero tolerance for sexualising teens and pre-teens via skincare. I’m pretty sure that [hashtags used by Bio.Teen like] #teen #explicit #teenlife are not directed at 20-somethings”.
The rise in attempted suicides by children in Poland is caused by “LGBT, neoliberal and neomarxist ideologies”, says the education minister
His solution is to protect traditional values and the church to help young people distinguish between good and evil https://t.co/rnnZOe91YD
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 9, 2023
Main image credit: Bio Teen/Instagram
Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.
