Wal-Mart Pulls Profanity-Laced Childrens’ CD From Shelves

An outraged mom has succeeded in her efforts to get retail giant Wal-Mart to pull a compact disk from its shelves after she complained that her CD — marketed for children — contained inappropriate language.

Christina Wilson says she and her 4-year-old son were listening to the CD his grandparents had given him for Christmas when what she heard shocked her. The “Kids Favorites” CD — wrapped in a pink CD jacket with a picture of four little kids — featured profane language, she says.  WSBT reports:

Wilson’s husband, Jeff, started listening to the CD early this week. He was shocked at the words in the song “Ugly.” Aside from the F-words, it carries an adult theme, as heard in this relatively clean line: “Y’all in deep doo-doo, and now it‘s gettin’ ugly.”

“How is this a children’s song?” Wilson asks.

Another profane tune is “Pump It.”

Wilson immediately contacted the Wal-Mart store in South Bend, Ind., where she says her in-laws purchased the CD to warn them about the lyrics.  “The first thing I thought was to get this CD out of kids’ hands,” she said.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa Hill said the company had already started to remove the CDs from its shelves after a supplier notified it about a problem with the CD.  From the AP:

“When we learned of a CD that could appeal to children included songs with profanity, we took immediate action to begin removing the product from our store shelves,” Hill said. “We are working with our supplier to investigate this matter further.”

She did not immediately know how many CDs were being pulled from stores nationwide. She said customers who bought the CD can return it to any Wal-Mart for a refund.

The CD cover shows four smiling young children surrounded by balloons looking up at the camera. On the back it reads: “Your kids will love these versions of today’s biggest hits, reinterpreted especially for them.” The CD contains versions of some well-known songs, including “Pump It,” originally recorded by the Black Eyed Peas, “Ugly,“ originally recorded by Bubba Sparxxx and ””Stickwitu,” originally recorded by The Pussycat Dolls.

Wilson said she assumed the children pictured on the CD would be singing, but the voices on the recording belong to adults. At least two of the songs contain profanities and others aren’t suitable for children, she said.

“I don’t think they are children-appropriate even if they were edited because of what they’re singing about, just the way they referred to women and things,” she said.

After the incident, Wilson says she will be much more vigilant in monitoring the kinds of music her son is exposed to.

“We never had to preview his CDs before, but we probably will from now on,” she said.