You have to wonder who thought that a T-shirt with a noose and the words “hang loose” would be a good idea. It seems that T-shirt company Tavik can be added to the list of firms such as Strange Fruit PR and Seasalt Company that suffer from poor execution in branding and design.
A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in Kissimmee, Fla., came across the Tavik T-shirt and posted the image on Twitter Monday night.
https://twitter.com/PsychoGF_/status/577625582864830464
And that led to hundreds of critical tweets being directed to Tavik and T.J. Maxx. Below is just a sample of what was posted on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/illiam_william/status/577667771393122305https://twitter.com/illiam_william/status/577667771393122305https://twitter.com/DCWorldDeadman/status/577682109797670912https://twitter.com/Keyondw/status/577726790384283648https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/577695879198588928
It didn’t take long for Tavik to respond to tweets about the T-shirt, saying that it would be pulled immediately:
https://twitter.com/tavik/status/577688948463501312
But as one person on Twitter wrote, why would you even think about printing a shirt that symbolizes hangings? It’s the epitome of tackiness and insensitivity. One of these days, companies will learn that nothing gets by people on social media and that they will come after you and make you accountable for a lack of judgment.