FatFaceNow we’re officially on the Christmas countdown, shops are beginning to hang their decorations with pride and festive jumpers will soon be part of our school and work uniforms.
Crimbo knitwear generally ranges from classic patterns to dangling tinsel, flashing lights and I even once saw a Die Hard Christmas jumper that literally just had Hans Gruber falling from Nakatomi Plaza emblazoned all over it.
But FatFace’s new jolly jumper will make sure you truly stand out from the crowd for an altogether different reason.
The Felicity Fair Isle Jumper, which was selected by top stylist Angie Smith, has a pattern of triangles in a row, as well as bunting pattern with red dots on super soft cream yarn.
FatFaceAfter the jumper went on sale, retailing at £56, the FatFace website was flooded with reviews from people pointing out the pattern’s resemblance to… a row of breasts.
In all honesty, we in the UNILAD office had something of a debate over whether they look like rows and rows of boobs and I am happy to confirm we came to absolutely no conclusion whatsoever. Some people saw it right away, others didn’t see it at all and a couple of others saw it once they’d been told.
Despite the ambiguous response on our desk, caveated by the fact we see a lot of weird sh*t in our day-to-day work, the public out there weren’t so forgiving.
One comment joked:
Wear this and you will find yourself constantly asking ‘Why are you staring at my boobs?’
Mumsnet‘Looks just like a row of boobs,’ a second added. ‘Not to say that there’s anything wrong with that. It is a lovely jumper, just don’t be surprised if you have a few curious glances whilst out shopping or taking tea.’
It’d be easy for a huge retailer to just ignore the jokes and carry on selling for profit, but some genius in their marketing team came up with a brilliant idea.
Rather than ignoring the comments referencing the rude resemblance, FatFace responded to the reviews in the best way possible.
Replying to the online jibes, the retailer wrote:
We’ve got to be honest, we feel like a bit of a melon… but whilst booby bunting wasn’t quite the look our designers were going for, we’re embracing it.
That’s why we’re grabbing life by the boobs and donating ten per cent from the sale of this jumper to breast cancer awareness charity, CoppaFeel!
FatFaceThe product’s online description has also been changed to read ‘Say hello to the jumper everyone is talking about’, adding that a chunk of its sales will be donated to charity.
To be fair, FatFace did make a bit of a boob of itself (not sorry), but it certainly made the breast of a bad situation (I am absolutely not sorry) by doing their tit-bit (you guessed it, I’m still not sorry) for charity.
People on Twitter were quick to praise the brand on its quick thinking in responding to the rude comments.
‘Well done FatFace,’ one user wrote. ‘Good save and an excellent cause!’
The user reviews have since been deleted from the product’s page.
Let this be a lesson in how to turn a fail into a bloody good cause.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.