Nazi shirts at Wal-Mart

[saintjohn]

Doesn't anybody at Wal-Mart watch the History Channel?

Wal-Mart pulls T-shirts with Nazi skull logo
Retailer apologizes, said it wasn’t aware that image had SS origins

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is pulling a skull-and-crossbones T-shirt from its shelves after a Maryland blogger complained that the image was identical to a Nazi SS emblem from World War II.

Rick Rottman, who runs an online journal called Bent Corner, posted a picture of the shirt late last week next to an image of a divisional insignia he said was used by the 3rd SS Division, a unit of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS.

The design is a distinctive image of a squat-looking human skull slightly angled to the side.

Wal-Mart said Monday it was not aware of the origins of the image until Rottman’s post and is working quickly to get the T-shirt out of stores, spokesman David Tovar said.

“We are deeply sorry that this happened, and we are in the process of pulling all of these T-shirts from our stores,” Tovar said. “Respect for the individual is a core value of our company and we would never have placed this T-shirt on our shelves had we known the origin and significance of this emblem.”

Wal-Mart is also reviewing its processes among suppliers for checking products in an effort to ensure this never happens again, Marshall Manson from Wal-Mart’s national public relations firm Edelman wrote in an e-mail to blogs that carried the story.

Rottman told The Associated Press by telephone Monday that he had seen the shirts in three Maryland Wal-Mart stores during the weekend.

source

The t-shirt:



The SS emblem:



The death's head symbol predates the SS, but since it's been co-opted by actual Nazis, why would Wal-Mart sell them?