Screenshot photo shows the gift set.
The e-retailer, The Beast, is offering a set of dusting and sweeping tools under the online title "Mama hit me one more time" as a gift for Mother's Day.
The set includes a sorghum-tassel broom, leather swatter and ostrich-feather duster, and sells for 569 yuan ($84) on Taobao, China's biggest e-commerce platform.
The online ad promoting the sale includes poetry that can be read with alternative meanings. "Have you been hit by mama when you annoyed her? Mom always teaches you a lesson. When you grow up, you will find tiger mom has softened…"
The title of the ad - "Mama, hit me one more time!" - is clearly derivative of the late 90s, controversial Britney Spears' song Hit me baby one more time.
According to the Chongqing Daily, the seller said the giftset only aims to recall customers' memories of their childhood. This sales pitch has not worked well as only a couple of sets have been sold over the last week, reported the paper.
Netizens noted there a number of reasons for the lackluster sales: the inappropriate nature of buying housecleaning items as a Mothers' Day gift, the price tag, or people might simply don't understand the items have alternative uses that are not intended for cleaning.
"I dare not buy this set. My mom wouldn't hit me just once," a netizen joked, a sentiment that was echoed by many other netizens.
Another netizen suggested another item should be added to the giftset. "How come it does not have a coat hanger," the Net user wrote.
