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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Milica Cosic

Cafe slammed 'encouraging sexual harassment' over sexist cocktail name

A cafe has been slammed for "encouraging sexual harassment " over the name of a cocktail - but despite backlash it has defended the slogan.

The Eleto Chocolate Café, in Canterbury, Kent, launched their new "house specials" for the students freshers night.

But one particular cocktail - which was spotted by customer Evie Wells, 27, on social media - was horrifyingly named GET YA T**S OUT.

The post advertising the £4 drink was then inundated with disapproving and shocked comments.

Critics, including 27-year-old Evie Wells, slammed the post as being in "very poor taste" ahead of Fresher's Week.

On social media, several Facebook users reacted to the vulgar name - with one woman even vowing to boycott the venue.

The post advertising the drink has been inundated with disapproving comments - with critics branding it in 'very poor taste' ahead of Fresher's Week (Kennedy News and Media)
Customer Evie says she was left shocked, especially considering she was a regular customer there before (Kennedy News and Media)

One wrote: "Shocking! Thanks for sharing Evie, I too will take my money somewhere else after reading this! Hope you are well."

Another critic commented: "Classy. Where’s the ‘Get Your Balls Out’ cocktail? Haven’t seen this sort of sexism since the 70s."

A Canterbury local wrote: "What! Can't believe they called it this, well done for standing up for women!"

Another user commented: "Their marketing team have cocked up with this one!"

Furious Evie then decided to contact Eleto on their Facebook page, but claims she was told the cafe was trying to make a "political statement".

She claims they also shockingly also told her she should not visit until the promotion ended.

Now it appears the café has done a U-turn and edited the original post - but still insist they were "trying to take the phrase back".

Evie, a senior customer service advisor from Canterbury, said: "I saw this first on Facebook. It came up on my feed as i follow them and was a loyal customer for years.

"I am not a student however working in a student city I felt disgusted that they would ever think this is okay.

"This is a phrase specifically aimed at women as sexual harassment. I tried to be calm and give them the chance to rectify.

"[When I got the response] my first word was wow. I was in shock and really disappointed that they clearly didn't care at all."

She then sent a screenshot of the "disgusting" post to her friend Naomi Pettman, 28, who she regularly visited the café with for years.

Customer Evie Wells spotted the social media post from Eleto Chocolate Café and immediately called them out (Kennedy News and Media)

Upon seeing the post, marketing student Naomi claims she was "heartbroken" by the name, and said it is the perfect example of "what not to do" from a marketing point of view.

Naomi, from Ramsgate, Kent, said: "Evie messaged me to say she was really upset about it and sent me a screengrab.

"I thought 'are you trying to be funny right now' because there is spiking going on around students and young adults.

"The fact they're calling it a freshers special and promoting it at Fresher's [week] when young girls who probably haven't gone out before in that kind of way could be quite naïve."

She continued: "It was quite heartbreaking, I felt like 'oh my gosh'. I did message them myself but they didn't get back to me.

"I've been to this café many times, I've been going on and off for many years, we go regularly.

"It's a really nice café, the staff are lovely, it's the fact they didn't even try to rectify it and said it's 'not a political statement'. What do they mean that sexual harassment isn't a political statement?"

It appears the café has now done a U-turn and edited their post (Kennedy News and Media)

The 28-year-old said that the cafe needs to "apologise and change the name" and asked: "Do they not understand? This [suggests] that it's someone who hasn't had to deal with sexual harassment. Sex on the Beach is not the same."

Eleto Chocolate Café have since claimed the name was an attempt to "take back" the phrase.

A café spokesman said: "To say we were shocked by the backlash created is an understatement, however we'd like to add some context to this situation.

"The name 'Get Ya T*ts out' was created by women. We believe the situation would be entirely different if a male had constructed this cocktail name.

"What's important to note is that it was not a male, which helps to show the intentions of the 'Get Ya T*ts Out' cocktail name.

"We chose this name as an opportunity to challenge the adversity that women face on the daily in an attempt to almost take the phrase back and add a positive spin to it.

"One of the ladies on our team saw the name as a means to 'let your hair down' and just enjoy yourself.

"I think it has to be abundantly clear, cocktail names have and will have outrageous names. We offer a Sex on the Beach, we offer a P*rnstar Martini, but this doesn't mean we're advocating for sex on public places or porn stars."

The spokesperson continued to say that the drink is "available for all", adding: "We'd also like to highlight that whilst the cocktail was created for the sole purpose of being sold during the time period coinciding with Canterbury's Freshers. The drink is available to all.

"We never intended to cause this much uproar. However, the discussion had to be had and the early result was clear to see - it was a discussion that provided mixed opinions.

"Our most important point that we want to raise among all of this, is that we're just a small café, we make food and drinks as well as cocktails in an attempt to put smiles on people's faces."

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