Target Probably Didn’t Check Spanish Dictionary For “Urine” Before Selling “Orina” Sandals

Maybe a quick Google search would've helped Target.

Maybe a quick Google search would’ve helped Target.

Dear readers, cast your brains back all the way to last week: Remember when Target caught a bit of flak for selling only the plus-size version of a dress in Manatee Gray in an apparent mix-up that had the other ladies’ version in regular Heather Gray? The company apologized and blamed an internal process for the glitch. That’s all cleared up — but who at Target made the decision to go ahead and sell Urine style sandals?

During the manatee brouahaha, we asked readers to send in any other evidence of inappropriate or otherwise questionable color names for retail products. Consumerist reader P. sent in evidence of something else that made us go, “Wait. What?”

Presenting, sandals in the style of “Orina,” or, as anyone who speaks Spanish knows, “Urine.”

She writes:

This isn’t a color name, but a style name. At my Target, at least, we have been asked to remove all signs with this shoe’s name as well as cover the name on both the box and the shoe tag. Seeing as there are so many Spanish-speaking people who shop and work at Target in various areas of the country, I can’t see how this got past whatever process Target uses to ensure that inappropriate names for shoes don’t reach the shelves.

As of this morning there are four search results for “Orina” on Target.com, all of which bring up this certain style of shoe made by Mossimo. We’ve reached out to the folks at Target and Mossimo for comment on what kind of product naming process could lead to pee style footwear, and will let you know if we hear back.

It’s not so much that urine is offensive — hey, we all gotta pee — but it does display an apparent lack of attention to detail on the part of a national retailer. Does no one speak Spanish at Target HQ or have access to this thing we call Google?

Our fellow consumer blogger Gitte Laasby at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out that Target’s not the only one in the urine pool — retailers like Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Dillard’s and more all carry products with Orina in the title.

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