Nike Pulls ‘Boston Massacre’ Shirts After Marathon Bombing
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Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Nike has pulled a 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’s 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.”
But in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three and left over 170 people maimed and injured, the shirt could be deemed offensive.
It’s not the first time Nike has pulled 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 the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
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