**UPDATE** Chemist Warehouse have apologised and removed the product from sale. See their statement below.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
CHEMIST Warehouse has been slammed for selling a male sex toy, designed to simulate a “realistic hymen just waiting to be popped”.
The retailer has been accused of “eroticising young girls” by campaign group Collective Shout for selling the Virgin Palm Pal.
“Since when have chemists become defacto sex shops? Chemists are supposed to be selling products with medicinal and health benefits, not promoting pedofilic fantasies and eroticising young girls for profit,” Melinda Tankard Reist, co-founder of lobby group Collective Shout, told news.com.au.
The product description reads says “Doc’s most popular line of Palm Pals has a new breakthrough toy you’ve been looking for”.
“You’ll be her first and only,” it reads. “Designed to fit easily in your hand, made of phthalate-free latex-free UR3 material, and very proudly in the USA. This Virgin is waiting to be touched for the very first time.”
Retailing for $15.99, for a saving of $3.96 off the recommended retail price of $19.95, the Virgin Palm Pal is apparently a bestseller.
It is sold online but it’s unclear whether it’s also available in stores. The website states that stocks are “temporarily low” online and encourages people to “please try your local store”.
Collective Shout posted a link to the product on Facebook and people were quick to react.
Margaret Carey said: “This puts me off supporting Chemist Warehouse. Is this real or a bogus site in disguise? What is this world coming to?”
Danni Chaseling said it was “disturbing” while Christine Honor said it was “the most sickening thing I’ve seen in a long time. That is a revolting thing one might find in an adult store not a chemist!”
Ms Tankard Reist said she had seen similar sex toys before, including a “Lolita Teenage Vibrating Vagina” and “realistic” sex dolls made to look like nine-year-olds, but never at a chemist.
“We see a lot of horrible things in our line of work as you can imagine, but this is incredible. For a company that might want to be seen as having corporate social responsibility, this seems like a radical departure.
“Don’t they care about the wellbeing of girls in the community? Why would they want to contribute to these fantasies of young girls existing to be ‘popped’ or ‘deflowered’?”
Collective Shout has written to Chemist Warehouse to complain about the product.
News.com.au has contacted Chemist Warehouse for comment.
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