Parents were left speechless on Christmas morning when a toy cake decorating set was found to contain an instrument that has been described as 'phallic'.
While their kids merrily played with the Play-Doh Sweet Shoppe Cake Mountain set, some parents couldn't help but notice that one of the icing tubes provided in the kit was uncomfortably reminiscent of the... ahem... male member.
The 'extruder' prop is supposed to be filled with icing, and then a plunger is inserted and pressed, pushing the icing out through the hole in the tip. Hmm, we can't help but wonder why no-one thought this might not be the best idea...
The suggestive implications of the action proved impossible to shake for some parents, and it wasn't long before shocked mums and dads were taking to the interest to register their disapproval with the 'inappropriate' playset, bombarding Play-Doh's social media channels with comments.
But while some parents were unimpressed with Hasbro's half-baked approach to product design, others were giggling behind their hands like schoolgirls at the saucy-looking extruder.
One mum congratulated the designers for brightening up her day: "I bought the kit for my daughter .. Honestly I cried laughing!" she commented in a post on the Play-Doh Facebook page. "She is too young to even know what the tool resembles Well done design team you guys are hilarious."
A red-faced Play-Doh has now announced that it will be changing the design of the extruder in future in light of 'consumer feedback'.
But what of those already in stock? One Facebook commenter had an ingenious idea to offload any surplus 'phalluses'. "Why don't you speak to Ann Summers and see if you can shift all those returns to a different market?"
Meanwhile, one mum had a searing put-down for those complaining about the 'suggestive' shape of the toy: "It looks like a syringe to me. I guess if you want to see a phallic symbol all you have to do is look around."
Yes, as Freud said: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and an extruder is just an extruder.