Cam from Modern Family’s favourite retailer in the whole wide world, Big W, has followed German discount supermarket Aldi’s lead (and H&M, and Urban Outfitter’s) and committed to removing some pretty heinous apparel bearing an ‘AUSTRALIA EST 1788’ logo from their shelves following a backlash on social media accusing both retailers of aesthetic/cultural insensitivity toward Australia’s indigenous people.
Following yesterday’s criticism of Aldi’s Australia Day range, which received complaints of racism from what Aldi described as “a limited number of concerned customers”, Big W have today followed [polyester] suit, with a Woolworths Ltd. spokeswoman confirming the shirts will be pulled from stores. In another twist of the $29 knife, Fairfax reported that Aldi’s seven designs – take that word with a grain of salt – were approved by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in July last year in accordance with stringent guidelines surrounding the production of goods which bear an image of the Australian flag – a particularly loaded image at this time of year:
“A department spokesman said staff had been concerned with the representation of the flag, not external elements. ‘In this case, the department provided approval on the basis that the flag was reproduced completely and accurately.’”
The shirts were made in Bangladesh.
@MichaelTiyce @chriskkenny @aldi Well they better boycott BigW then too. Look at the photo I took today pic.twitter.com/100goJj2ER
— SydneyGirl (@unami22) January 8, 2014
