It was supposed to be a straightforward announcement that Kit Kat had launched an account on Instagram. "Drum roll please ... Kit Kat is on Instagram," read the post on the Nestle-owned brand's Facebook fan page.

But after myriad comments began to pour in pointing out the distinct similarity between Kit Kat's ursine drummer and a certain kid-unfriendly Internet bear, the snack company quickly pulled the image off the web.

"We had never heard of Pedobear," insisted a company spokeswoman. "We produced this photo – of a real guy in a bear suit - to launch Instagram through our Facebook. The picture is not Pedobear."

The seemingly innocuous cartoon character, who began life as a troll detector on the Japanese textboard 2channel, was introduced to "lolicon" hentai sites and 4chan in early 2005, and soon evolved into the sinister child molesting mascot he is known today.

[image via The Age]