Clothing line "Kain Pepe" draws criticism online

A local clothing brand is drawing criticism after unveiling a line of shirts seemingly promoting sexual abuse to women. 

KNPP Clothing Line has responded to the controversy by posting a statement before it shutdown their social media account due to criticisms received online. The brand claimed that the purpose of the clothing line is simply to encourage adolescents and teenagers to EAT PROPERLY. Adding that "PEPE" is a common name for young Filipino and "KAIN," is a word which means "Eat".

"It was named that way so it would catch peoples attention easily. Most teenagers nowadays lack proper nutrition because of gadgets and social media which causes them sometimes to miss a meal. Through the shirts, they are at least reminded to also pay attention to their nutrition," the KNPP Clothing Line said on their social media post.

The response to the clothing line across social media was overwhelming negative.

One person said: "Women wearing “Kain pepe” shirt basically support normalizing of sexual harassment and objectification among women. It also tolerates men to treat women as sexual objects.. sobrang nakakabastos sa aming mga babae!"

im sorry this pathetic excuse is just too funny. if the message is clearly to encourage people to eat properly, then maybe the setting should’ve been in a restaurant or a cafe or something ACTUALLY related to eating properly and the models shouldn’t be posing like that pic.twitter.com/adjBRUM93z

— clarice (@iveronclarice) January 24, 2020

THE KAIN PEPE BRAND aims to encourage teenager's to eat properly
yow wtf is this?? Whattaa lame excuse bruh

CTTO pic.twitter.com/7ekB7d7Yrz

— Enormous Knight (@ENORMOUSKNIGHT) January 24, 2020

Gosh di naman issue dito yung pananamit ni Leng. It's the clothing line she's endorsing. Women wearing “Kain pepe” shirt basically support normalizing of sexual harassment and objectification among women.

I support locals, yes, but this clothing line is a fucking trash 🤷

— Panget! At The Disco (@baklangkanal) January 24, 2020

Please boycott this unethical clothing line!!

Kain Pepe clothing line is nothing but a disgrace to the business industry. Is the owner dumb or is he really just retarded? How can he justify something so obvious and make a ridiculous excuse like this? Ang kapal ng mukha. pic.twitter.com/REe2HwLQc2

— nichole (@nicholemoldes) January 24, 2020

There's a difference between encouraging women to not be afraid of exploring their sexuality and treating them as sexual objects. "Kain pepe" tshirt does not speak anything of women empowerment. 🖕🏽

— She. (@DElANlRA) January 24, 2020

Ladies, you can wear whatever you want. You can be confident. You can be sexy without selling yourself. Self respect is a MUST.

Kain Pepe Trash

— Jillian (@yanyansavage) January 24, 2020