Hackers have been blamed for broadcasting pornographic content on screens in a retailer shop window in Auckland, New Zealand.

Sports company Asics has since apologised to customers after pornography was broadcast for “several hours” on promotional screens.

The x-rated content is believed to have been played until staff arrived at 10am Sunday morning to open the store – with parents and children exposed to the videos. One mother told the New Zealand Herald that the videos were “totally inappropriate and offensive”.

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In a Facebook post, the Japanese-owned sports retailer said: “An unknown person gained access to the screens above our central Auckland store and some objectionable content was displayed on the screens. We are working with our software and online security suppliers to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”

Asics said it has launched a full investigation into the alleged security lapse and local authorities have been contacted.

The NZ Herald reported that the porn clips had been playing for nine hours until staff realised and promptly shut it down. The publication also reported that the store manager, known only as ‘John’, blamed the incident entirely on a cybersecurity breach.

The store manager said he was “100% sure” that the content had not been uploaded by staff at the store.

“Head office and our IT team have begun a full investigation into what happened and who uploaded the page,” he told the NZ Herald.

“Screens were immediately turned off to the units immediately when they turned up for work on Sunday. Clearly, this is an embarrassing situation, and Asics has apologised through our website and also by email to our customer database.”

Additionally, security officer Dwayne Hinango said that “some people were shocked, but others just stopped and watched” the content.