Milk tea shop shelves controversial ‘elephant trunk’ bag
A roadside beverage stall in southern Songkhla province has dropped a plan to sell iced milk tea in a plastic bag with a long protruding part at the bottom.
The shop Cha Dean described the protruding part as “elephant trunk”, but many people said that it resembled the reproductive male organ.
On its Facebook page on Thursday, the shop said: “Our apology to all the customers. The bag in question will no longer be available. It involves many sensitive issues. Thank you for your hefty interest and support.”
Cha Dean’s recent Facebook post about the novel packaging went viral, drawing much support for its creativity while attracting criticism from more conservative and religious people.
“I can’t see it as anything else,” a netizen commented on the bag’s images.
The shop’s post said that the “extremely unconventional” bag needed no drinking straw, as the “elephant trunk” part could do the job. It also promised “attention wherever you go carrying this bag”.
The shop owner, Saranyu Madeng, said recently that he had got many more customers due to the viral post, which was shared about 30,000 times.
Saranyu said that he was inspired by a video clip teaching how to add a protruding part by pulling a plastic bag.
“I tried doing one and it could hold water. I showed it to my father, and he said it looked funny. We laughed together,” the shop owner said.
He added that when he posted the bag’s images for the first time on the shop’s Facebook page, he simply wanted to make people laugh, with no intention of using it for his milk tea.