"we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise"
From an article in the Los Angeles Times, 9/1/11
Penny pulls shirt deemed offensive
ANDREA CHANG
J.C. Penney Co. has stopped selling a shirt for girls after shoppers expressed outrage over what they called an inappropriate and sexist message.
“I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me,” said the message scrawled across the … shirt, which was intended for girls ages 7 to 16.
…Customers immediately criticized J.C. Penney for promoting girls’ looks over their brains.
Tweets quoted in the article:
“This shirt is insulting and offensive. Stop perpetuating negative and harmful stereotypes…”
…”Baby Girls, You can be pretty & smart. And if you’re neither, that’s ok too. Put that on a shirt.”
…After seeing the shirt on the retailer’s website on Tuesday, Lauren Todd of New York started a petition on the website Change.org, asking the retailer to pull the shirt.
By Wednesday morning, J.C. Penney had removed the item from its website. It also sent Todd an email that said, “We agree that the ‘Too pretty’ T-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them.”
…a company spokeswoman [said] that the retail chain “would like to apologize to our customers” and was “taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise.”
andrea.chang@latimes.com
Penny pulls shirt deemed offensive
ANDREA CHANG
J.C. Penney Co. has stopped selling a shirt for girls after shoppers expressed outrage over what they called an inappropriate and sexist message.
“I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me,” said the message scrawled across the … shirt, which was intended for girls ages 7 to 16.
…Customers immediately criticized J.C. Penney for promoting girls’ looks over their brains.
Tweets quoted in the article:
“This shirt is insulting and offensive. Stop perpetuating negative and harmful stereotypes…”
…”Baby Girls, You can be pretty & smart. And if you’re neither, that’s ok too. Put that on a shirt.”
…After seeing the shirt on the retailer’s website on Tuesday, Lauren Todd of New York started a petition on the website Change.org, asking the retailer to pull the shirt.
By Wednesday morning, J.C. Penney had removed the item from its website. It also sent Todd an email that said, “We agree that the ‘Too pretty’ T-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them.”
…a company spokeswoman [said] that the retail chain “would like to apologize to our customers” and was “taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise.”
andrea.chang@latimes.com