Protests over 'flick knife' sweet
10:11am Saturday 19th July 2008
Comments (29)SWEETS designed like flick knives are to be removed from sale after protests by parents Concerned mum Liz Evans, from Easton, Portland, called for the Co-op store at Easton to remove the Flick 'n' Lick' lollies from the shelves in the light of the knife crime epidemic that is sweeping the country.
Mrs Evans picked up the sweets for her 10-year-old son Russell and was shocked when she saw him open the packaging.
She said the children's treat was a replica of a type of flick knife called a butterfly knife.
Russell's parents and headmaster are shocked that, at a time when 17 teenagers have been killed in stabbing attacks this year in London alone, a sweet should seem to be endorsing knife culture.
Government figures released this week showed 350 knife crimes are committed in England and Wales every day.
Mrs Evans said: "I bought him these sweets for after school, not realising what they were.
"I felt quite sick as my son turned round and said Look mum, this looks like a knife'.
"It's an exact copy of a butterfly knife but instead of a blade there is a long boiled sweet.
"It isn't obvious at all from the packaging. It's not a mistake, it has deliberately been designed like that and it's even called Flick 'n' Lick'.
"It encourages kids to play with these sweets like they're a knife and I just think that's really wrong."
Mrs Evans believes the product is sending a bad message to kids and wants shops to take action to prevent these sweets from ending up in youngsters' hands.
She said: "They shouldn't be selling them. With everything that's going on with knives at the moment it makes it even worse, it's like they are promoting it.
"My husband, David, informed the Co-op.
"Parents need to be made aware that these sweets are being sold. Swizzels Matlow who make them are a big company so they must be selling them elsewhere across the country.
"Maybe shops with a conscience could stop selling them."
Russell's headteacher at St George's Primary School Trevor Jameson said Mr Evans had shown him the sweets and he would be addressing the rest of the pupils at assembly to voice his concerns.
Mr Jameson said: "Given the current climate with all the knife crime going on this is not the sort of thing we should be encouraging.
"These things are obviously aimed at young children but they are not the sort of thing I would buy for my grandchildren."
A spokesman for the Co-op group told the Dorset Echo the sweets would be removed from the Easton store and all other Co-op outlets across the country.
She said: "This product is being withdrawn from Co-op stores throughout the company as it is not suitable for supply in our branches.
"We apologise to any customers who have been offended by these items."
Andrew Matlow of sweet manufacturers Swizzels Matlow said the product could not be perceived in any way' as a knife and this was the first time any issue over the Flick 'n' Lick lolly had been raised.
He said: "It really resembles nothing like a flick knife - it is essentially a lollipop which is oblong with no jagged or sharp edges and it doesn't actually flick up. It has been out in excess of five years. We haven't even had a single complaint.
"I think the person who reported it is a bit sensationalist and has considerably exaggerated any possible threat."
Your Say YourDorset Echo
AFCB, says...
11:34am Sat 19 Jul 08
maximus, Weymouth says...
11:44am Sat 19 Jul 08
spangler, says...
12:04pm Sat 19 Jul 08
dani, portland says...
4:57pm Sat 19 Jul 08
He said: "It really resembles nothing like a flick knife - it is essentially a lollipop which is oblong with no jagged or sharp edges and it doesn't actually flick up"
When I read this I thought, wow a parent who stands up for their beliefs and yes I can see why the parents of this bought lolly reacted in light of the stabbings, but when my son who is 13 years old who has eaten these lollies for a few years now, read the article, he said mum it doesn't even flick like a knife and he has never had any contact with a real knife. he said it would not make him want a flick knife or even play with it like a flick knife as it folds open on both sides. The point is, do we put our fears onto our children? I think we do!
nige, dorchester says...
5:51pm Sat 19 Jul 08
techie, Weymouth says...
5:53pm Sat 19 Jul 08
DingDonG, Wilds of Wiltshire says...
6:29pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Mrs Evans said: "I bought him these sweets for after schoolThere's your FIRST mistake!
Try an apple, may save a trip to the dentist/dietician later.
Atalanta, staying away from the sweet shop says...
7:08pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Wherever did the innocence of childhood go?
John, Weymouth says...
7:32pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Try it here:
http://www.jokesunli
mited.com/inkblotqui
z1.php
John, Weymouth says...
7:34pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Russell's headteacher at St George's Primary School Trevor Jameson said Mr Evans had shown him the sweets and he would be addressing the rest of the pupils at assembly to voice his concerns.
Now they will all want one!
Daddytone, Dorchester says...
7:47pm Sat 19 Jul 08
"We apologise to any customers who have been offended by these items."Offended by a sweet? Oh come off it!
"It encourages kids to play with these sweets like they're a knife and I just think that's really wrong."
Any proof of this?
"I think the person who reported it is a bit sensationalist and has considerably exaggerated any possible threat."
Well said sir!
Daddytone, Dorchester says...
7:52pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Protests over 'flick knife' sweetOh and shame on you Dorset Echo - 'protests'? One woman got her husband Dave to ring up the Co-Op to complain - that's a protest singular.
genghis, portland says...
8:38pm Sat 19 Jul 08
Daddytone wrote:One of my favourite iced lollies back in the 70's was the Count Dracula - blackcurrant iced lolly with ice cream and red jelly inside. Yet I still didn't grow up to be a vampire. Honest, I just don't like going out when the sun is too hot.
Protests over 'flick knife' sweetOh and shame on you Dorset Echo - 'protests'? One woman got her husband Dave to ring up the Co-Op to complain - that's a protest singular.
Fabian, Weymouth says...
10:20pm Sat 19 Jul 08
JamesY, Dorchester says...
10:50am Sun 20 Jul 08
Fabian wrote:The poor lad will get even more stick if he tries to knife the offenders with his lollipop.
From my recollection of school anything that your parents did that became well publiscised tended to affect your standing at school. I hope this lad doesn't get the fall out from all this lolly publicity.
MARY CALDER, HERNE BAY says...
2:33pm Sun 20 Jul 08
techie, Weymouth says...
2:49pm Sun 20 Jul 08
genghis, portland says...
5:20pm Sun 20 Jul 08
MARY CALDER wrote:The fact is this is a sweet. It's not being advertised as a knife-sweet, it isn't shaped like a blade, it is a sweet. How far in the present climate should we go then? Remove knives from cutlery sets, ban the sales of kitchen knives, bread knives, stanley knives? As with guns, it's not the knives that kill it's the people using them. To beat knife-crime you have to change the attitude of the people who think carrying a knife makes them a big person. Doing that is hard enough, if not impossible but banning knives or in this instance a sweet isn't going to do that.
Maybe, at any other time Mrs Evans would not have been quite so concerned,but given the present climate of violence, it's no wonder she was alarmed. I don't think there is any call for the sarcasm voiced in previous comments concerning Mrs Evans's actions. There is,after all, a saying that 'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.'!!
Voice Of Reason, Weymouth says...
7:47pm Sun 20 Jul 08
There is,after all, a saying that 'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.'!!
Sarcasm is indeed the lowest form of wit, but at least it is some form of wit. Anyway, Herne Bay- that's not in Dorset. Go and read the Herne Bay Gazette.
It is a sweet. Bad for your teeth, and that is about as offensive and dangerous as it gets. Have to agree with the 95% of people on here who are normal- IT'S A SWEEEEETTTTTT!!!
Guy Fawkes, says...
8:16pm Sun 20 Jul 08
I used to love them.
genghis, portland says...
8:37pm Sun 20 Jul 08
Guy Fawkes wrote:Not now you've brought them to the attention of the Cotton Wool Brigade.
Can you still buy 'Fizz Bombs'? I used to love them.
techie, Weymouth says...
8:53pm Sun 20 Jul 08
abpye, weymouth says...
10:40pm Sun 20 Jul 08
It was a lovely sunny day today so my kids were outside in the garden squirting each other with water from water pistols. Could you please provide me with the number for Toys R Us so I can get all water pistols withdrawn from all stores worldwide. What were they thinking, selling these weapons of mass destruction. Think of the kids. Whats next for my kids AK47's.
yours
osama
maximus, Weymouth says...
3:43pm Mon 21 Jul 08
Ask Archie, Weymouth says...
4:04pm Mon 21 Jul 08
maximus wrote:If you got out more mate instead of commenting on here every day you would know about such dangers in the real world these days.
I wonder at Mrs Evan's upbringing that she recognises a butterfly knife. Until I saw this article, I, along with probably many others, didn't know such things existed.
Ask Archie, Weymouth says...
12:48pm Wed 23 Jul 08
maximus, Weymouth says...
10:42am Thu 24 Jul 08
Tim Weymouth Boy, Weymouth says...
5:36pm Thu 24 Jul 08
SWEET SHOCK: Russell Evans and the flick knife' sweet
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flaneur, says...
11:30am Sat 19 Jul 08
Maybe Im alone on this but has anyone else noticed how water pistols resemble real guns.
Oh heavens! Someone call a school assembly, close the toy shops. Oh the children, the children!