Store sells "controversial" t-shirt, tells kids with disabilities to "toughen up"

[fireheart17]

http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...-1226762381223

So you're the owner of a retail chain known for selling stuff that caters mainly to teenagers and skaters. You decide to sell a t-shirt with the label "Retarde" on it.
Of course, that's going to piss off a LOT of parents....

Cue the owner of the clothing chain (in my state anyway) meeting with a mother of a child with Downs and then telling people that "disabled kids need to toughen up."

Luckily they've stopped selling the shirts since, but really....if you wanted to pull a stupid PR stunt like that in the first place, you could've at least pissed off the Rundle Mall preachers or something! (seriously, those guys will take issues to ANYTHING "homosexual")

[hinakiba777]

I really like his comment about how it's not a clothing stores responsibility to control what their customers wear. While this is true for the most part, if they didn't provide that particular shirt, I doubt many people who take the time to screen print their own original version of the shirt. Obviously if you make "controversial" clothing, someone is going to buy it.

[Panacea]

I really like his comment about how it's not a clothing stores responsibility to control what their customers wear. While this is true for the most part, if they didn't provide that particular shirt, I doubt many people who take the time to screen print their own original version of the shirt. Obviously if you make "controversial" clothing, someone is going to buy it.

Sure. I just bought a t shirt from a vendor who I think is an absolute tool . . . but the shirt I bought he's being sued over because he "uses the NSA" logo (he actually altered it more than 10%, so he's told them to pound sand).

So your argument is right on the money. If they make it, someone will buy it.

[Anthony K. S.]

A Globalize staff member said the shirts had sold out at the Mall store

One of the inherent dangers of protesting anything is that you risk drawing attention to something that might otherwise be generally ignored.

If this shirt is selling well, I suspect that it is largely because of the protests, especially if the store mainly caters to teenagers.

Protesting the shirt automatically turns it into "forbidden fruit," which is often very appealing to teenagers.

That's an unfortunate side effect of protesting ... Still, if you really believe that something is offensive, then speaking out against it can help your cause, to raise awareness.

Certainly, remaining silent on everything you find objectionable in the hopes that people will just ignore it isn't likely to accomplish much, either.


In my opinion, wearing that shirt would be really stupid, because it would leave you wide open to the most obvious insult :

"'Retarde...?' Well, yeah, we know, but is that really something you want to announce?"

It kind of reminds me of a student journalism conference I once attended. In one workshop, a student mentioned how a columnist insisted on running a particular piece he'd written, despite everyone warning him that it would make him look like an idiot to the entire student body.

The journalist running the workshop half-jokingly said :

"Hey, look, the First Amendment gives people the right to say all the stupid things they want. Nobody can take away a person's right to make a complete, utter ass of himself!"

[Nyoibo]

Of course there's only one language in the world and we all speak it damnit!

[fireheart17]

One of the inherent dangers of protesting anything is that you risk drawing attention to something that might otherwise be generally ignored.

If this shirt is selling well, I suspect that it is largely because of the protests, especially if the store mainly caters to teenagers.

Actually, I suspect it's more due to the fact that once you hit high school, god help you if you have an intellectual disability. Those shirts are just a huge badge of "I'm mocking those retards"


And a little update from today: they've pulled the shirts from sale.

Meanwhile people are arguing that a petition of around 1100 people is going to do nothing to change our driving laws...