Auckland burger joint Velvet burger has come under fire for its 'tongue in cheek' sign after a customer complained it triggered a childhood memory of being photographed by a paedophile.
The sign apparently indicated three self-contained toilets were unisex. The image of a male figure peering into a toilet cubicle in use by a female was in Velvet Burger's Fort St branch in the CBD.
A costumer who dined there on September 28, Zandri Clarke-Spies, said seeing the sign instantly brought up traumatic memories of being photographed by a man while she was naked in a Warehouse changing room aged 10.
"The first thing I did after I got back from the bathroom was tell my husband about it. It was really weird, you wouldn't expect something so small to trigger such an old memory," the 25-year-old told the New Zealand Herald.
The old incident she was referring to happened when she was trying on some jeans and a shirt and she wasn't wearing anything.
"As I was getting dressed I saw this flash of something dark in the corner of the changing room."
Ms Clarke-Spies gave evidence in court but CCTV footage was inconclusive.
Years later he was convicted after being caught with hundreds of images and footage of child pornography at his home.
When Ms Clarke-Spies got home from Velvet Burger she took to Facebook to relay her anger.
"In light of everything that's going on, I found it a little unfortunate that the following sign is hanging on the door of a 'forward thinking' brand that caters to a woke millennial market," she wrote on Velvet Burgers Facebook page.
"Remove it please, for the sake of f***ing decency - so that I or anyone else who has had this happen to them don't have to have flashbacks of being 10 and scared out of their f***ing minds about someone shoving a camera under the door while my pants are down."
The general manager at Velvet Burger James Arnott said the sign was removed immediately after the complaints.
"Absolutely, we'd identified that that wasn't in line with our values. It's just one of those little pieces of branding that at one stage was tongue in cheek but probably not appropriate.
"That's not up to our standards. It is old signage that we've kind of overlooked. So it's good that she's pointed it out."
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