Background music in retail stores can often be questionable, but two Tauranga shoppers were stunned when the soundtrack to their shopping excursion turned out to be "soft, porn-like moaning".
Marie Waring and her partner were perusing a clothing area in the Bethlehem Kmart on Sunday afternoon when "soft female moaning" began emanating from the speaker system, she told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"I heard the sound of soft female moaning coming from somewhere then it stopped," she alleged to the outlet. "A short time later, maybe one minute, it started again. This time with a little more intensity.
"It was 100 percent sexual female noises. It didn't sound like exaggerated porn, sounded like, legit, a girl having a good time."
She asked her partner if he could also hear the sexual noises, and he said yes.
Laughing, Waring said she headed to the speaker aisle to see if someone was playing a prank. However, it was there she realised the noises were "coming from overhead".
"I locked eyes with another shopper who looked absolutely horrified," Waring said.
At the checkout, Waring said she asked one of the staffers why "porn" had been playing through the speaker, to which the employee responded that they "weren't sure" how it had happened.
"I walked out with various items I didn't need and a free porn soundtrack," Waring joked to the outlet.
She later took to the popular Facebook group 'Kmart & The Warehouse Hacks & Decor NZ' to see if any other shoppers had encountered the mysterious moaning.
"Was anyone in Bethlehem Kmart this afternoon when they played p**n over the speakers?!" Waring wrote to the group, which currently has over 283,000 members.
"Lady at the checkout said they don't know how it happened. Around 2-3pm. Surely someone in here works there and can tell us more."
The post has since racked up almost 300 comments, with several people suggesting what may have caused the overtly sexual Sunday afternoon soundtrack.
"Someone went to the toilet and forgot to disconnect their Bluetooth," one proposed, while a second suggested: "I'd say someone picked up an unattended mic in [the] dressing rooms, etc, and had some fun."
When one person asked Waring to clarify what the noises were, she responded: "I'd describe it as 'soft moaning', raised in intensity on the second audio we got. Of course, I only have myself to compare it to, one person's soft moaning could be another's banshee shriek.
"Just a lone female, unless [the] second person had a mouthful."
Another asked how long the noises lasted, to which Waring replied: "First one maybe 10 secs, second one 20? [The] Second was longer but felt like 84 years when you've locked eyes with a fellow shopper. No music, don't recall 'beep beep' [the intercom]. I'll ask my partner."
"She was only testing the vibrating products for customer [satisfaction] - I guess it was a winner," another joked, while a fourth quipped: "Turning customers on or off."
Newshub has contacted Kmart for comment.
