RETAILER TK MAXX have said they will remove a tshirt containing a slogan about the Charlie Hebdo massacre after a shopper complained that it was offensive.
The Reason clothing tshirt says ‘Je suis over it’, a play on the slogan used to show solidarity with the 12 victims of the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by Islamic terrorists in January.
Tom Young spotted the tshirt in a Bristol branch of TK Maxx and told the Mirror that “it’s appalling that a global brand has allowed a tshirt like this to be produced and sold in store”.
Even if the message did not intend to cause upset in relation to the tragic event, I am adamant it should be taken down from stores immediately.
TK Maxx have withdrawn the tshirt from 280 stores as a result of the complaint and apologised to customers. Online retailer ASOS who also sold the tshirt have also removed it.
TK Maxx said in a statement:
As soon as we became aware of the offensive t-shirt message, we initiated the process to remove this item from our stores and are internally reviewing how we inadvertently purchased the item.
We would like to apologise to our customers for any concern this may have caused.
Reason, the clothing company responsible for the t-shirt, said they have decided to stop production of the t-shirt, but claim it was originally produced in May 2014, before the attacks, and said “no connection with the Charlie Hebdo attacks was intended or implied”.
Other designs on their website include a play on French phrases such as J’Adon’t care.
This article was first published on DailyEdge.ie, written by Nicola Byrne.
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