Swastikas, Rape, and War: When Retailers Lack a Sensitivity Chip
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In an effort to expand its retail outreach, there is a section on the Sears website entitled “Marketplace,” which is dedicated to partnering “with thousands of sellers to offer you more of the unique products that you want.” That’s all well and good, but what if it’s an item that you don’t want? Like the men’s “punk rock” ring emblazoned with a swastika that appeared on the site earlier this week?
According to Yahoo Finance, the description for the ring read: “This gothic jewelry item in particular features a Swastika ring that’s made of .925 Thai silver. Not for Neo Nazi or any Nazi implication. These jewelry items are going to make you look beautiful at your next dinner date.”
Most would agree that the swastika, while originally favored by peacekeeping factions like Scandinavians and Buddhists, is a tainted symbol. And while Sears has since apologized and removed the product from their site, the question still remains: How does this happen? And will it affect business going forward?
“Don’t get me wrong, this shouldn’t have happened, and it’s horrific that it did, but I think that with the advent of fast fashion and just wanting to sell more and more all the time it is not all that surprising,” says industry expert Mary Alice Stephenson. “There has to be a system of checks and balances or else things are going to slip through the cracks. And then it is up to the brand to take care of it right away.”
Stephenson also contends that social media certainly plays a part in raising awareness for a brand’s ethical and social responsibility. “Consumers understand their power to call things out more than ever before,” she says.
Such was the case just last month when a woman in the Philippines came across a t-shirt for sale at a local mall with the phrase, “It’s Not Rape It’s a Snuggle With a Struggle” printed on the back. The store instantly pulled the garment, but not before the image went viral. H&M also got into hot water earlier this month for selling jumpsuits that resembled those worn by female soldiers of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Simon Collins, the Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons, contends these kinds of slipups are bound to happen, but it’s how they are handled that makes all the difference. “There was a great talk recently about brands having Common Sense Deficit Disorder,” he says. “For example, when Reebok did a big launch around its Incubus sneaker for women, not realizing that an incubus is the male spirit that rapes women when they’re asleep. Or when Bayer had an issue with one of its drugs and instead of stealthily playing it down, they had all the products wiped from the store. The message was that we care more about you than we do making a profit. And in instances like those, I think the sweeping gesture is necessary.”
Of course all it takes is one unhappy customer to trumpet these types of social injustices. (“We’re living in an age of instant media,” says Collins) which means that brands need to be more self-aware.
