Under Armour Pulls T-Shirt Design Following “Outrage”
Under Armour “trashed a T-shirt design based on an historic World War II photograph following outrage”, reported Baltimore Fishbowl.
The “Band of Ballers” shirt, stated the report, featured four athletes in silhouette raising a basketball hoop in poses reminiscent of “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” the iconic photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman planting an American flag on Mt. Suribachi on Feb 23, 1945.
Baltimore-based Under Armour’s Facebook page, continued the report, “lit up with complaints, mostly about comparing a pickup game of basketball to serving in World War II.” The company’s response was swift, stated Baltimore Fishbowl, and the design was pulled and an apology was issued on Facebook stating that “Under Armour has the utmost respect and admiration for the men and women on active duty and veterans who have served our country. As such, we deeply regret and apologize that a t-shirt that was not reflective of our values in honoring and supporting our country’s heroes went on sale. We have taken immediate action to remove it from retail and will take great measures to ensure this does not happen again. Supporting those who serve our country has been part of our brand’s DNA since the very beginning, and through our partnerships and by working directly with military organizations, it will always serve as the foundation of our efforts to give back.”
The upshot, reported Baltimore Fishbowl, is that the T-shirt is going for $100 and up on eBay.
(Baltimore Fishbowl photo.)
