Barnardo’s angered by ‘adult’ baby T-shirts

Potty Mouth, a new T-shirt brand for babies featuring outrageous slogans, has angered children’s groups, which have condemned the range as “irresponsible”.

The brand has been launched by Dutch ad agency KesselsKramer. The T-shirts are available over the Internet, at www.PottyMouth TM.com. The agency claims Potty Mouth is “the first line of alternative adult T-shirts for babies”.

It will be aimed at children under five years of age, and there are plans to roll out the line to retail outlets.

The T-shirts, priced at $20 (&£14) each, carry statements such as “My dad only hits me when I’m real bad” and “I’m proof that my mom likes to f**k”.

Children’s charity Barnardo’s says it is “speechless” about Potty Mouth.

Barnardo’s senior policy officer Anne Van-Meeuwen says: “We were shocked that any company would be irresponsible enough to think these phrases were suitable for babies’ and children’s clothing. We just hope that parents have the sense not to buy them.”

Potty Mouth was co-created by the agency’s founder creative director, Erik Kessels, and senior writer, Chad Rea, who says the agency is trying to “create debates in society”.

Rea adds: “The launch of the agency’s first clothing line for babies is simply an experiment. People are either going to love it or hate it, or be extremely offended.”

However, Rea confesses that the website has received “quite unfavourable reactions, especially from women”.

Chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, David Kerr, finds the concept “tasteless” but adds: “There is nothing illegal about the site, and we would certainly not take the matter to court”.