A Norwegian supermarket chain was forced to issue an apology after an attempted Halloween prank apparently went too far.
Discount store Europris announced it was removing its "Chop Shop" line of fake, severed limbs, which it packaged like butchered meat and stocked in freezer counters alongside real cuts of meat, complete with a nutrition label, the Telegraph reports.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTO)"Our intention was obviously not to upset our customers," Europris purchasing manager Knut Spæren told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), via The Local. "Now we are withdrawing the few products that people have complained about, including the severed hands."
The BBC notes the items drew criticism from parents' and children's groups worried that the bloody parts looked too realistic and could frighten kids.
"What we have here is very extreme, especially as it is next to the children's fancy-dress costumes," said Kjellaug Tonheim Tonnesen of Barnevakten, a Norwegian non-profit that focuses on kids and the media. "The body parts are covered in blood and packaged to look like meat in a fridge. Many children think it's scary."
As The Local notes, angry comments flooded NRK's Facebook page after the story broke.
"There's no doubt my children would have been terrified if they'd seen this in the shops," Mona Urfjell wrote. "I think it's such a shame that we have an American tradition so violently forced down our throats."
LOOK:
Gustan una manita asada al carbón? están de oferta en Europris. pic.twitter.com/1i3okPa8tR
— Mundo Wheels (@MundeloWheels) October 29, 2013
This holiday season has proven that when it comes to scary celebrations, there is such a thing as too real. Earlier in the month, a Halloween display depicting dead bodies in an Oklahoma driveway was so realistic that at least one neighbor phoned 911.
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