Kmart says pants ‘not associated’ with abstinence, even though description cites ‘bold abstinence print.’
Filed Under: Women
By on Jun 6th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Kmart says pants ‘not associated’ with abstinence, even though description cites ‘bold abstinence print.’
Responding to last week’s buzz surrounding Kmart’s promotion of abstinence pants, a Kmart spokesman insisted the pants were “not associated with any group or any cause,” saying the message “True Love Waits” “was just a graphic put on the pants.” Yet as Feministing points out, the store’s own description of the pants describes them as featuring a “bold abstinence screen print“:
Feministing writes: “Note to Kmart flacks: If you’re going to lie, make sure to cover your tracks.”
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Feministing writes: “Note to Kmart flacks: If you’re going to lie, make sure to cover your tracks.”
Or at least making it somewhat convincing…jeez.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:04 pmAbstinence makes the heart grow farker…
June 6th, 2008 at 1:09 pmMy favorite part? “Imported”
PEACE
June 6th, 2008 at 1:11 pmPay no attention to the marketing hype! These pants will scare off all the boys, or can be turned into a comfy chastity belt with the purchase of our nifty abstinence gluey stuff kit, for only an additional $19.99!
June 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pmAnd that’s not all! With each gluey kit you get 12 free bible verses to quote to anyone caught gawking at your crotch!
Bold abstinence screen print
- - Maybe K-Mart thinks that’s a font, like the unfunny, Comic Sans.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pmThe K-Mart Lying and Obfuscation Committee obviously needs a team-building weekend.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:27 pmI think that K-Mart was relying on that old standby of marketing: Consumer Stupidity
June 6th, 2008 at 1:28 pmWhy isn’t there a Martha Stewart abstinence panties line?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:29 pm“True Love Waits” is cute. Its worlds better than shirts that say things like “Porn Star”.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:30 pmAs if that message is going to stop girls/women from rolling down the waist band? Nothing screams abstinence like an exposed asscrack, right?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:30 pmAlso note to Kmart flacks: Learn some basic grammer. This is not a sentence:
Whether she is lounging around the house, going to practice, or doing her chores.
Yeah, and??? This is an incomplete sentence with an introductory phrase.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:33 pmGotta wonder how many folks will think the girls is just hung up on Tom?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:33 pmgirls is? are? Hey! where’d my syntax go?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:34 pmDid this Kmart spokesperson formerly work for the White House?
Sounds like the kind of message clarity they would be proud of. Look for some kind of an award - or a job offer.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:36 pmI’m sure it’s been pointed out before, but nothing says “abstinence” like draw-string-pants.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:36 pmgunclinger would you buy a pair? would you wear them?
*
June 6th, 2008 at 1:37 pma Kmart spokesman insisted the pants were “not associated with any group or any cause,” saying the message “True Love Waits” “was just a graphic put on the pants.” Yet as Feministing points out, the store’s own description of the pants describes them as featuring a “bold abstinence screen print“:
Is it too obvious to point out that Kmart didn’t bother to conceal the marketing because the “target demographic” that swallows this bongwater isn’t exactly Mensa material?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:37 pmhanshiro Says:
Is it too obvious to point out that Kmart didn’t bother to conceal the marketing because the “target demographic” that swallows this bongwater isn’t exactly Mensa material?
“target demographic”- you’re referring to “gunclinger” “daryll”, “upright left”, “johnboy” et al. correct?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:43 pmHey, c’mon guys, give Kmart a break! Why should Catholic school girls in their plaid skirts have the market cornered on Forbidden Fruit wear? This is America, let the Market decide!
June 6th, 2008 at 1:43 pm“True Love Waits” “was just a graphic put on the pants.”
Yeah, like a swastika is just a funny-looking plus sign put on flags.
OK. I see.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pmWARNING!
June 6th, 2008 at 1:45 pmAbstinence pants offer no protection against sexually transmitted diseases.
LividLib Says:
WARNING!
Abstinence pants offer no protection against sexually transmitted diseases.
yes but they are ribbed.
for her pleasure.
*
June 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pmHave some fun at TheZoo today. :-)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pmSome of the knee-jerking going on here is unnecessary. Its really not your business what pants a girl wants to buy or why. I think the slogan is cute and I can see why young girls might like it.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pmNothing screams abstinence than having script running across your ass. If Dad catches the neighbor boy staring at her ass, he’s just reading the words isn’t he? “Poor Billy, he has such bad eyesight he had to almost put his nose in my crotch to just read it. I felt sorry for him, so I took them off and let him read it. Honestly Daddy, nothing going on here.”
Sweatpants are the ultimate easy off pants aren’t they?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:52 pmIs there a choice like “Teaser” or a circle with a line through it or “Exit only” or how about “NO ID”? Do they have low-cut sweaters that say “My eyes are up here”?
June 6th, 2008 at 1:52 pmgunclinger Says:
Some of the knee-jerking going on here is unnecessary. Its really not your business what pants a girl wants to buy or why. I think the slogan is cute and I can see why young girls might like it.
you can?
did you ask them?
you write a lot about “jerking”, why is that?
have you registered your whereabouts with your local police department?
*
June 6th, 2008 at 1:55 pmKeltoi, not to get personal, but did something happen to you recently? Fall in love? Find your true calling? Some major life change?
‘Cause you’ve really been an asset to this forum lately. Good reasoned arguments, quick wit… good work. Keep it up.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pmI don’t care if K-mart sells them just don’t lie about what they really are.
“True Love waits with balls of blue”
June 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm“True Love waits for graduation and a trailer park”
“True Love waits for a relationship that ends in divorce and child support payments.”
Rather than insult our young women with an obvious pander to the ‘wait until marriage’ crowd, I have a better idea. When the boy stops by your house to talk with your daughter, make sure you are cleaning your guns in full view of the boy. Wink at him once or twice so he is not too sure what your intentions are. It has worked wonders for me.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pmj swift, one more:
“true love waits to be featured daily on the jerry springer show“
June 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pmAnd as long as I’m in a harmonious mood, I’d like to support gunclinger on this.
It’s fairly harmless. Amusing in its unconscious irony, sure, but nothing beyond that. I suspect K-Mart will rack up more sales to clever tweens seeking to make an ironic statement than to “Purity Ball” princesses.
Kind of like “Warning Explicit Content” T-shirts. It will probably come to symbolize, if not the opposite of its literal message, then at least the silliness of the sanctimony behind the message.
And if young girls want to proclaim their chastity, more power to ‘em.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:03 pmStratRat there’s a downside to that plan- your 35 year old, unmarried daughter still living at home.
*
June 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pmOr the way Cher Horowitz’s father greeted her date in Clueless:
“If anything happens to my daughter, I’ve got a .45 and a shovel. i doubt anyone would miss you.”
June 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pmSo exactly what does that say about the rest of Kmart’s fashions?
Next up: Kmart Mormon magic underpants.
-AF
June 6th, 2008 at 2:06 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
ralph the wonder llama Says:
And as long as I’m in a harmonious mood, I’d like to support gunclinger on this.
Who the heck are you, and why are you pretending to be Ralph?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:08 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
StratRat Says:
“If anything happens to my daughter, I’ve got a .45 and a shovel. i doubt anyone would miss you.”
katie homes’ father tried that on tom cruise. needless to say it didn’t work. (i guess oprah would miss him.)
go with the pants. they’re fun to wear. and even more fun to take off.
*
June 6th, 2008 at 2:10 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
——————————————————————————–
Keltoi, not to get personal, but did something happen to you recently? Fall in love? Find your true calling? Some major life change?
‘Cause you’ve really been an asset to this forum lately. Good reasoned arguments, quick wit… good work. Keep it up.
I think something happened to me when Zooey told me to embrace my inner Troll and wear it with pride. Very liberating.
Were TP a food web, I would be a decomposer. You may not like everything about me, but I fill an important niche.
Maybe it is Obama, truthfully. I am a Gemini, so I have a very dualistic nature, and he inspires visceral amounts of both adulation and anxiety in me.
Or maybe you guys have just rubbed off on me after a years exposure. I certainly have changed my view on several issues.
BTW, I agree with you, the pants are totally harmless, but damn fun to mock.
So - A Catholic school girl and an Abstinence Pants girl walk into a rave club….
June 6th, 2008 at 2:11 pmNow, gum, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that “True Love Waits” works better than “Porn Star”.
I just think it’s a silly fashion statement, no more serious or dangerous than “Porn star” t-shirts. I doubt K-Mart thought through the social implications of an abstinence message plastered on draw-string sweatpants. Or maybe they did and thought it would be funny.
I just don’t really see this marketing gimmick as a new front in the War on Sexuality.
Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be back to playing Whack-A-Troll™ before ya know it.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:14 pmKmart is the virginity-saving place.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:15 pmpintosahab Says:
As if that message is going to stop girls/women from rolling down the waist band? Nothing screams abstinence like an exposed asscrack, right?
—-
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look
June 6th, 2008 at 2:19 pmdbadass Says:
——————————————————————————–
pintosahab Says:
As if that message is going to stop girls/women from rolling down the waist band? Nothing screams abstinence like an exposed asscrack, right?
—-
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look
But - exposing the womb broom goes too far.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pmHey! I got a great idea! How about prison wear with the same message on the back? Picture Karl Rove walking the prison yard with a pair on!
June 6th, 2008 at 2:22 pm#41: It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look
- - There’s a girl at my gym (and I mean girl) who has a tramp stamp that says, Deeper, Harder. Nice, huh?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:24 pmSo - A Catholic school girl and an Abstinence Pants girl walk into a rave club….
LOL…I do believe Keltoi has hit his/her stride. Always a pleasure.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:24 pmdbadass Says:
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look.
Or a whale tail. That’s very attractive.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pmBadmoodman Says:
- - There’s a girl at my gym (and I mean girl) who has a tramp stamp that says, Deeper, Harder. Nice, huh?
Classy. Very classy.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:28 pmI wonder how those abstinence pants will look crumpled up on my bedroom floor?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:29 pmKeltoi Says:
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look
But - exposing the womb broom goes too far.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Gee thanks, now I have to go claw out my eyes — AGAIN!
June 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pmBadmoodman Says:
“There’s a girl at my gym (and I mean girl) who has a tramp stamp that says, Deeper, Harder. Nice, huh?”
Let me guess - she loves doing squats?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pmOops, I smooshed together dbadass’ and Keltoi’s comments. :|
To give credit where credit is due, dbadass came up with the asscrack & muffin top sickness. :P
June 6th, 2008 at 2:33 pmZooey Says:
Have some fun at TheZoo today. :-)
Thanks for the link.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:34 pmhttp://tpzoo.wordpress.com/ 2008/ 06/ 06/ lets-have-some-fun/ #comment-64562
Thanks for stopping by leftcoast!
June 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pmZooey Says:
——————————————————————————–
Keltoi Says:
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look
But - exposing the womb broom goes too far.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Gee thanks, now I have to go claw out my eyes — AGAIN!
I refuse to suffer alone.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:36 pmOkay, excuse my ignorance but what the hell is a “tramp stamp”?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:44 pmAbstinence makes the heart grow fonder?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pmMore like…
Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers.
#56: Okay, excuse my ignorance but what the hell is a “tramp stamp”?
- - a tattoo a woman gets right along her waistline, or lower, in the small of her back.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:06 pmMendacity, mendacity, all is mendacity.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:06 pmThose are nice “warmups” for cozying up on Daddy’s lap at the “purity ball”. Daddy’s little girl!
Sick bunch.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:07 pmThanks for the explanation Badmoodman. I’m going with Zooey now and claw my eyes out AGAIN.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:15 pmI am calling bullshit on Keltoi’s conversion. Maybe a slight migration leftward, and a welcome one. Keltoi has always been a notch above, and has never exhibited sycophant qualities. You sir, are no Arianna Huffington.
Keltoi brings a position that is somewhat right of most, but does it in a persuasive and not polarizing way. There’s a lot more room in the middle than KKKarl would have you believe.
Womb broom! That is a good one.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pmI’m inclined to agree with you, nanlichi, that it’s not really a conversion. I still expect Keltoi to put up some good arguments.
My observation was that he’s gotten off a few cracking jokes the last few days, and that the threads he has chosen to add his voice have been about issues where he’s aligned with progressives.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe it is the result of him embracing his inner troll.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pmKeltoi Says:
But - exposing the womb broom goes too far.
Where I’m from, a moustache is a womb broom :)~
June 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pmEh. There’s nothing wrong with abstinence. I don’t see what the big deal is with the pants. If people want to abstain, so long as I get to have sex, whatever.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pmgummitch Says:
——————————————————————————–
dbadass Says:
It isn’t the asscrack, it’s the “muffin top” lapping over the rolled down waistband that’s the really makes the look.
Or a whale tail. That’s very attractive.
——
June 6th, 2008 at 4:01 pmThe whale tail, muffin top, tramp stamp trifecta. It makes a dad proud. Add the exposed bra straps and she’s da bomb
I’m thinking about sending some of those abstinence pants to a couple of my ex-wives as gifts :)~
June 6th, 2008 at 4:02 pmralph,
I don’t know that I want a progressive Keltoi, I like to hear the arguments from the other side. We definitely don’t have a nut hold on the truth and he exposes the cracks in our thinking sometimes.
(The nut and the cracks references are to keep this post on topic, not just gratuitously trashy references.)
June 6th, 2008 at 4:15 pmWe’re in total agreement, nanlichi. I wish there a couple more TPers like Keltoi. It would make the conversations a little more lively. Trolls get so boring after a while. How many black eyes can you give them?
June 6th, 2008 at 4:32 pmIF a chick is doing all the other stuff, like whale tales, tramp stamps, etc. The womb broom is shaved by that time. At least in my region.
June 6th, 2008 at 5:14 pmI can see it now! All across America, Daddy’s little girl trying to explain the crusty stain on her abstinence pants.
Or
Daddy’s little girl dressed in abstinence pants kneeling before the porcelain god, puking her guts out with morning sickness.
Abstinence my arse!
June 6th, 2008 at 5:18 pm______
ralph the wonder llama Says:
Kind of like “Warning Explicit Content” T-shirts. It will probably come to symbolize, if not the opposite of its literal message, then at least the silliness of the sanctimony behind the message.
And if young girls want to proclaim their chastity, more power to ‘em.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
______
Teen girls definitely need to be told they are sanctimonious if they aren’t sexually active. Lots of lovely lib comments directed at little girls. Even coming up with this little gem:
chai Says:
Those are nice “warmups” for cozying up on Daddy’s lap at the “purity ball”. Daddy’s little girl!
And calling someone else sick? The ever rising level of discourse. ;)
June 6th, 2008 at 10:52 pmIf you’re shopping at Kmart, chances are you didn’t wait for true love or abstinence.
-AF
June 6th, 2008 at 11:21 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
What? Why not Chastity Belts? Then Daddy can lock the goods up.
How about a pair for Junior? Don’t tell me the boys don’t have a comparable product available?
June 7th, 2008 at 2:07 pm*