A 10-year-old student in Melbourne was sent a Kim Jong Un costume by online retailer CostumeBox, instead of the Mary Poppins outfit she had ordered for her school's Book Week parade. The family discovered the error just days before the event, leaving them in a race to secure the correct costume.
The order for the "Musical Nanny Deluxe" costume, which retails for $60, was placed on August 23. The child was reportedly "absolutely gutted" by the mix-up, with her mother expressing her dismay in an email to CostumeBox.
"You sent me the wrong costume! My daughter needed the Mary Poppins costume for book week, and you send me a Kim Jong-un costume!" the parent wrote, as shared on Instagram by Australian TV and radio presenter Jacqueline Felgate. "What is the meaning of this? This is unacceptable. She has her parade in two days."
CostumeBox CEO Nikki Yeaman addressed the incident in a comment on Felgate's social media post. Yeaman explained the situation as either a "simple but regrettable human error" or a "small but determined communist uprising within our warehouse ranks." She stated that a replacement Mary Poppins costume was promptly picked, packed, and sent via express post, with the expectation of arriving in time for the parade. Yeaman added that the customer who received the Kim Jong Un costume was on their way to the post office to confirm the contents of their parcel and that a Kim Jong Un mask would be sent if the Mary Poppins costume had indeed been received in error.
The costume mix-up has drawn a range of reactions online, with some expressing amusement and others offering advice to the family, including suggestions to let the child wear the Kim Jong Un costume as a statement. The incident also highlights the availability of costumes inspired by current world leaders on the retailer's website, with options for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump also noted.