T-Shirt Maker’s Controversial Slogan Ruins His Business
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — One mistake destroyed what it took Michael Fowler 20 years to build.
However, almost everyone agrees — including Fowler — that his Worcester, Mass., T-shirt company got what it deserved after selling a shirt that read “Keep Calm and Rape a Lot,” a parody of the British slogan, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
From the moment the shirt was advertised last March on Amazon, it all came apart for Fowler’s company, Solid Gold Bomb. Amazon pulled the company off its site, essentially crippling its main source of revenue.
At the time, Fowler claimed the T-shirt with the highly offensive message didn’t really exist and was actually generated by a computer program that spits out random phrases.
However, the apology didn’t do anything to stop the bleeding. Last week, Fowler had to fire his three remaining workers and close up shop.
And that’s not the end of his misery. Fowler is also under crushing debt and regularly gets death threats.
Fowler is trying to take it all in stride. Currently living with his family in Melbourne, Australia, he and a friend are trying to establish a new T-shirt company abroad.
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