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Published January 13, 2015
This is a partial transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," May 9, 2006, that was edited for clarity.
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Well, making your toddlers a hit by pimping them out, that's what my next guest aims to do. It's a clothing line called Pimpfants, with basketball jerseys that say "Junior Pimp Squad," among other things, and shirts with the logo, "My Mama Is a" — well, you figure it out. We're not going to say it on the show. But this is just some of what is featured.
What kind of message is this sending?
Jared Parsons is the founder of Pimpfants.com, joins us from Portland, Oregon.
JARED PARSONS, FOUNDER, PIMPFANTS.COM: How is it going, Neil?
CAVUTO: Jared, what is all this about?
PARSONS: Well, I grew up a skater.
And me and my friends had a certain lingo and a certain style we were into. And when we kind of got older and became parents, we realized that that style is completely void in children's clothes. So, to fill that void, I created Pimpfants.
CAVUTO: All right. Some are saying it's just borderline pornography. Is it?
PARSONS: I would say that's completely absurd.
It's being misunderstood by a lot of people that are not familiar with some of the lingo that people are using today. The word pimp is commonly used to refer to style. Numerous networks have shows and stories and headlines. It's hard to go a day without watching TV where someone isn't saying the word pimp in reference to style. And that's all it really means in our name.
CAVUTO: Do we need kids running around, though, in clothes that say "Wife Beater"?
PARSONS: They don't say it. They just are the two-by-one cotton fabric that that shirt is made out of. They're actually very cute.
CAVUTO: All right.
Now, here's what I think. I think you're a brilliant marketer. I think no one is doing anything close to this. So, you have latched on to something in a very competitive market, knowing full well that you're going to raise eyebrows and be controversial. Is that what this is about?
PARSONS: Not really.
You know, when I created Pimpfants and I created all the designs for it, I didn't even think of it as being something that was going to become so controversial.
CAVUTO: Oh, Jared, come on.
PARSONS: I knew there was going to...
CAVUTO: Come on. You had to think it would be controversial.
PARSONS: Oh, I knew that there was going to be some...
CAVUTO: This isn't exactly Kids 'R' Us, right?
PARSONS: Yes. No, I knew that there was going to be some people that it wasn't for. It was definitely created for a certain kind of people that were into a certain style and talked and thought a certain way.
CAVUTO: Who is buying this? I know a certain style, but who is buying clothes that...
(CROSSTALK)
PARSONS: Well, a lot of the people that are buying this are people that have a sense of humor and into this certain kind of a style, people that recognize that some of the terms we're using, like pimp and Pimpfants, does mean style. They don't think of it as a pimp or a ho on the street. They are thinking of it as pimping infants, Pimpfants.
CAVUTO: Yes, but these are kids wearing it. They're oblivious. They don't know what they're wearing.
PARSONS: Exactly.
CAVUTO: But they're sending a message that a lot of this slang and terminology we use, demeaning for women and others.
It's a weird way to endorse it, don't you think?
PARSONS: Well, I think it's all in the context that you're looking at the words.
You know, there is the show "Pimp My Ride" on MTV, are they talking about, like, sell women out of my car? No, it's all about style my ride. You know, "20/20" just did an episode called "Pimp My Property." It's all about stylish renovations for your property. I mean, the list really goes on and on of all the networks that are using this word that have absolutely nothing to do with anything that is un-tasteful.
CAVUTO: All right. All right.
Well, it's a free country. People can be free to buy or not buy.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: Jared Parsons, in Portland, thank you very much.
PARSONS: Thanks, Neil.
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