St. Patrick's Day t-shirt left out six counties
J. Crew, an American retail chain, has been forced to apologize after selling a St. Patrick’s Day t-shirt that features a map of Ireland without the six Northern counties.
Read More: Why living in the US can make the Irish detest St. Patrick's Day
The fashion retailer came under fire on Twitter after Francis X. Kennedy shared a snap of the shirt, slamming its design as “offensive and bordering on obnoxious.”
Hey, @jcrew, it's great that you're doing an Irish t-shirt for St Patrick’s Day, but this is offensive, bordering on obnoxious, for a couple of reasons. I'll let you figure it out for yourselves, but showing the design to any Irish person would have helped. pic.twitter.com/goAieDEawP
— Francis X Kennedy (@FXKennedy) February 17, 2019
Kennedy’s tweet has since garnered more than 1,800 likes, as well as a slew of responses.
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Aside from the omission of Northern Ireland, many people also took issue with the shirt’s design that featured “beer,” “more beer,” and for some reason, a large depiction of a windmill, something which Ireland is not particularly known for.
Do you know where Slemish is @jcrew ? Or what it is? Have you heard of Downpatrick? Your eviscerated map has left out the places St. Patrick lived, where he died and was buried. #Worsethantheweather https://t.co/CAhiNBVD1F
— Andrea Catherwood (@acatherwoodnews) February 18, 2019
@jcrew you may have unwittingly limited your target sales market. #ireland #BREXIT pic.twitter.com/4Pzbitn5BK
— Irene Winters (@IreneWinters) February 19, 2019
Perhaps our newly-acquired windmills blew Northern Ireland off the map...? #beerandmorebeer #jcrew pic.twitter.com/ylofjhfAEX
— Anna Yarbrough (@AnnaRYarbrough) February 18, 2019
@jcrew What the hell is this? You've forgotten a bit of the place. Fix it, or stop selling it. Morons. pic.twitter.com/sJaVzgbKbd
— Ciarán McGuigan (@CiaranGuigan) February 18, 2019
One person commented on the shirt on J. Crew's website before it was pulled from rotation: “Where’s Ulster? And apparently, the Republic is populated by alcoholics. Shameful!”
Read More: Are Amazon within their right to sell drunk Irish stereotype merchandise?
The Irish Post reports that J. Crew has since shared a statement apologizing for the shirt and saying that it’s no longer for sale.
"This product has been removed from sale and we regret any unintended offense it may have caused," a spokesman for the retailer said.
What do you make of the shirt? Let us know in the comments section, below.
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