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Publisher, seller and Tesco all apologise for sale of graphic book marked suitable for children

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By Steven Raeburn, N/A

July 2, 2013 | 4 min read

The third party seller of a horror themed colouring book has apologised after the book was withdrawn from sale from retailers Tesco.

The cover of 'Colour Me Good'

The book, “Colour Me Good”, had appeared for sale online at Tesco as suitable for children aged 5 and over, despite containing graphic imagery from horror films such as Psycho, Hellraiser, Misery and An American Werewolf in London.

The managing director of Prezzybox.com MD, Zak Edwards, issued a personal apology for the error and acknowledged that the book was “clearly not for kids.” Tesco and the book's publisher had already apologised for their parts in the sale process.

“Here at Prezzybox.com we are very sorry for any offence caused by the Colour Me Good – Horror Films Book, which was mistakenly labelled suitable for children aged 5 and over,” he said in a statement.

“Clearly, the book is gruesome and for ages of 16+. It features scary scenes from various gruesome horror films. We acknowledge that this book isn’t suitable for Children.

“Whilst working with a well-known national retailer, we made an error, in which we failed to follow our strict guidelines and clearly label correct and suitable age ranges for all products that are sold through these external retailers.

“This mistake came to light in the national press, who rightly picked up upon this error. We apologise for this mistake and will work hard to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

Tesco had previously said that the book was placed for sale on the company’s website by the book’s publisher, and said in a statement: “We have very clear guidelines for third-party sellers who list items on our website, and are sorry that on this occasion they weren’t followed.

"We will be speaking with the seller to remind them of the importance of selecting the right category when listing products with us.

"Of course when issues do arise we act quickly with the seller to ensure that the item is updated with the correct information.2

The book publisher had previously blamed Tesco for the error.

"Firstly and most importantly, my products are not aimed at kids. They are a contemporary, pop-culture inspired range that are aimed at playful grown-ups,” said Mel Elliott.

“I was unaware that Tesco were a stockist as a separate distribution company deal with the wholesale of my products.The front cover features a drawing from the horror movie Psycho, in which a woman is stabbed to death in the shower.

“I believe that this one image is a fairly large clue that this is not a book aimed at children.

“However, it does state on Tesco’s website that my products are aimed at five to eight year olds, which is an error on their part.'

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