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24 March 2004
AMSTERDAM — A Dutch designer claims her company has been inundated with orders since Virgin Airways was forced to scrap plans to install her bright red, mouth-shaped urinals at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.
The 'Kisses' urinal
"Orders are flowing in from all over the world and the US in particular for the urinals which are going into production next month," designer Meike van Schijndel told Expatica News on Wednesday.
"Soon my 'kisses' urinals will be all over New York — in bars, clubs, offices and in private homes."
Van Schijndel is the designer at the Utrecht-based firm Bathroom Mania! and contradicting her critics, she said the urinals were designed as a fun cartoon mouth and not as a woman's mouth.
Her designs have been around for two-and-a-half years and the Dutch and international media has published several articles about the urinals without generating complaints until now, she said.
On Monday, Virgin Airways announced it would not go ahead with the installation of two of the bright-red urinals, designed by Van Schijndel, in its new passenger clubhouse at JFK airport.
The airline received several complaints from individuals and groups, including the National Organisation for Women, claiming the urinals clearly represented a woman's mouth and were therefore degrading to women.
Virgin spokesman John Riordan said in a statement that the airline was surprised by this negative reaction. "We can assure everyone who complained to us that no offence was ever intended," he said.
Speaking to Expatica, Van Schijndel said she had also been amazed by the criticism. She said that after the story broke, she received "some very nasty emails" from both men and women.
"But since then, 95 percent of the emails on the subject have been positive.
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