Organisers at a peanut festival felt they had no choice but to rethink their mascot’s costume after complaints rolled in likening the original design to a penis.
The original design for mascot Minduca was first unveiled back in 2019 in celebration of the International Peanut Fair, which is held in the municipality of Jaboticabal, São Paulo.
Journalist Regiane Alves was part of the organising committee behind the festival, and has since told local news sources how the issue arose after the cartoonish design was brought to life as a wearable costume.
Behind-the-scenes photos show bandana-clad Minduca hanging out at the fair, and the bottom-heavy costume has caused a fair bit of alarm and amusement among social media users.
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here.
A post showing the accidentally "phallic" costume has since clocked up more than 7,300 likes and counting on Facebook, with some people unable to contain their giggles at the sight of it.
One person claimed they were “crying laughing" at the sight of the costume, while another quipped, “Glad [the peanuts weren’t] tasting of what the doll looks like."
A third commented: "Is it just me seeing a d*** than a peanut", while a fourth remarked, "Ironic, right, peanuts are an aphrodisiac (and this one looks like a pistol hshshshs) omg [sic]."
Eventually, the various memes snowballed to such an extent, organisers knew they had to take action to avoid further ridicule.
President of the food fair, Pedro Luís Alves, gave a statement to local media confirming the costume would be altered to better resemble a peanut, with the new, more shell-like costume, designed with a more in-proportion shape plus hatch markings.
Have you ended up wearing an outfit that you later realised was completely inappropriate? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
