‘You can’t sit with us’ T-shirt angers Jet shoppers
Jet has vowed to remove the T-shirts from its stores. Jet has vowed to remove the T-shirts from its stores.
Johannesburg - “Would love it if someone would please explain to me how you think selling a dress for 7 to 8 year olds with the slogan ‘You can’t sit with us' is OK.”
This was the question an aggrieved parent posed to Jet Stores on its Facebook page. The mother, Clarissa Lester Witten, pointed out the T-shirt promoted bullying in a society that was tirelessly working to eradicate such misbehaviour.
“You are undermining the efforts of all those promoting kindness and inclusion.I will cut up my store card and swiftly move along to a store with more ethics than yours,” wrote Witten on the Jet Facebook page.
“Children are committing suicide after being bullied or made to feel less, then you sell clothing that promotes segregation,” she said.
Another Facebook user, Nadja Bester, commented: “I am thoroughly shocked at how this made it through your approval processes without anyone raising an eyebrow.”
Bester went on to suggest an anti-bullying campaign should follow from the incident.
Responding to the Facebook complaint, Jet’s online team immediately apologised and thanked Witten for raising her dissatisfaction, and said the T-shirts would be taken off its shelves.
“Good day Clarissa, thank you so much for engaging with us. We’d like to let you know that your complaint has been heard and will be taken seriously.
“These T-shirts are in the process of being taken off our shelves. Please remain patient with us as we attempt to resolve this. Many thanks, Jet online team,” read the Facebook response.
In a formal statement, Jet Stores said: “As a company, Jet is against bullying in any form and it is something we absolutely do not condone.
“We would first and foremost like to apologise. We have taken immediate measures to recall the T-shirt in question from all our stores, and we are looking to create a T-shirt with the slogan, ‘You can SO sit with us’.
“We are sorry if we may have encouraged behaviour we as a company do not stand for, but we are also grateful for our customer engagement.”
june.hlongwane@inl.co.za
THE STAR