Kleenex to rename mansize tissues as ‘extra large’ after complaints of sexism The brand’s parent company Kimblerly-Clark said there had been an increase in complaints in relation to the product

Kleenex has revealed it is changing the name of its “mansize” tissues to “extra large” after customers complained that the name was sexist.

The decision comes after the tissue brand – owned by Kimberly-Clark – received numerous messages on Twitter from users who felt the name was outdated.

One wrote: “In this day and age, is it right for @Kleenex_UK to have a product that is MANsized? The world is changing maybe they should too?”

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‘Do women have different colds to men?’

Another posted a picture of a box of “mansize” tissues and wrote: “Really @Kleenex ? Do women have different colds to men which mean they have different tissues?”

The company was also told by one user that her son had been confused by the product’s “mansize” description.

She wrote: “My 4yo son asked me what was written here. Then he asked, why are they called mansize? Can girls, boys & mummies use them?

Hi @Kleenex_UK. My 4yo son asked me what was written here. Then he asked, why are they called mansize? Can girls, boys & mummies use them? I said: I don’t know & yes of course. He suggests you should call them “very large tissues”. It is 2018 pic.twitter.com/SeOg32RsDV — Lisa Hancox (@LisaMHancox) October 10, 2018

“I said: I don’t know & yes of course. He suggests you should call them “very large tissues”. It is 2018.”

In response to the messages, Kleenex said it would be making some changes.

Replies posted by the brand’s official UK account read: “Thank you for sharing your concern.

“We recently made changes to our Mansize branding and will now be labeled Extra Large, keep an eye out in shops.”

Increase in complaints

According to parent company Kimberly-Clark, the “mansize” tissues have been on sale for 60 years.

But in a statement obtained by the Telegraph, they said there had been an “increase of complaints on gender concern related to Mansize subbrand”.

They added: “Kimberly-Clark in no way suggests that being both soft and strong is an exclusively masculine trait, nor do we believe that the Mansize branding suggests or endorses gender inequality.

“Nevertheless, as we remain committed to developing the best possible products for our consumers and take any feedback extremely seriously, we decided to renovate our current product and update the product subbrand as Kleenex Extra Large.”

A spokesman told i: “We are always grateful to customers who take time to tell us how our products can be improved, and we carefully consider all suggestions.

“Consumers may see the new name on our larger boxes in store already.”