That Bud Light Bottle
The Bud Light bottle was pulled from the company's "Up for Whatever" campaign in April, after it prompted a Change.org petition with more than 14,000 signatures. Critics said the bottle, which reads, "The perfect beer for removing 'no' from your vocabulary for the night," promotes "rape culture" over "consent culture." "The Bud Light Up for Whatever campaign, now in its second year, has inspired millions of consumers to engage with our brand in a positive and light-hearted way," Alexander Lambrecht, vice president of Bud Light, said in a statement. "In this spirit, we created more than 140 different scroll messages intended to encourage brand engagement. It's clear that this particular message missed the mark, and we regret it. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior."
Abercrombie & Fitch Clothing
The teen retailer got into hot water in 2002 when it sold a series of T-shirts that many shoppers said trivialized the Asian culture. Among them was a shirt depicting the Wong Brothers' laundry service, where "two Wongs can make it white," and "Get Your Buddha on the Floor." Also in 2002, A&F angered parents by selling children's thong underwear that included suggestive words such as "wink wink." The product was pulled from its stores. A few years later, A&F stirred up controversy again for a series of T-shirts, including one that read, "Do I Make You Look Fat?"
Play-Doh's Sweet Shoppe Cake Mountain Playset
Images of Play-Doh's Sweet Shoppe Cake Mountain Playset spread across social media in December, after children unwrapped the gift over the holidays. The issue? The kit's frosting "extruder," which is used to squeeze icing onto the play cakes, resembles a certain part of the male body. "We have heard some consumer feedback about the extruder tool in the Play-Doh Cake Mountain playset and are in the process of updating all future Play-Doh products with a different tool," Julie Duffy, vice president of global communications at Play-Doh's parent company Hasbro said via email. The company offered replacement pieces for customers who contact its customer service department.
Urban Outfitters Shirts
Known for its controversial merchandise, Urban Outfitters had to change its "Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl" shirt, which hit shelves about 10 years ago, because the text was surrounded by "stereotypical symbols such as dollar signs," Fineman said. In response to the controversy, the company redesigned the shirt to exclude the dollar signs. It made headlines in 2010 when it sold a gray T-shirt that read, "Eat Less." The retailer pulled the item. And in September it stirred outrage when it sold a red sweatshirt bearing the Kent State name and what appeared to be a blood splatter. The retailer responded on Twitter, saying: "It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such."
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