Nike Pulls ‘Boston Massacre’ Shirts After Bombing

[Fuji Vice]

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Nike has pulled a sports T-shirt emblazoned with the bloodied words “Boston Massacre†in the wake of last Monday’s marathon bombings.

A spokesman for Nike told ABC News the retailer has now pulled all of the “Boston Massacre†shirts from their outlet stores, as well as from large online retailers like Fanatics Inc.

In a play on the infamous 1770 attack on Boston civilians by British soldiers, the T-shirt was created for Yankees fans to highlight series sweeps of the Red Sox in 1978 and 2006 that served to end the Red Sox’ playoff chances in both of those years.

The sweeps came to be known colloquially among fans of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry as the first and second “Boston massacres.â€

But in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings which killed three and left scores maimed and injured, the shirt could be deemed offensive.

It’s not the first time Nike has felt the need to pull a product in the wake of a tragedy. In February the retailer pulled an ad featuring Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius with the caption “I am the bullet in the chamber,†after he was charged with shooting to death girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Can't say I blame them for pulling the shirt off the shelves, but it seems a bit of a radical move. Anyone who wears that shirt now is just asking for trouble, so it shouldn't be Nike's responsibility. Still, based on the picture it does seem to be in pretty poor taste given recent events.

 

[The Great Cochrane]

Well it's the most responsible thing for Nike to do. Considering the fact that they're the number one most recognized sports apparel brand I'm pretty sure they wouldn't wanna ruin their reputation by advertising something horrible like that. I think they're just a tad bit smarter than that.