Social Media Divided Over Novelty T-Shirts Sold by Target

A series of novelty t-shirts being sold at Target are dividing social media.Disappointed in you […]

January 10, 2018, 2:42pm

A series of novelty t-shirts being sold at Target are dividing social media.

Disappointed in you @Target. News flash: a lot of girls like football and even (gasp!) understand it. pic.twitter.com/otJhhmVHbI
— Amy Haneline (@AmyBHaneline) January 6, 2018

The women’s t-shirts, one which reads “Rooting for the Commercials” and the other reading “Let’s Touchdown a Homerun!,” were brought to Twitter’s attention after news reporter and user Amy Haneline tweeted an image of them.

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Writing, “Disappointed in you [Target]. News flash: a lot of girls like football and even (gasp!) understand it,” Haneline started, going on to state in a follow-up tweet “Whether you love em or hate em, an update: these shirts are available online at Target’s website. But sorry guys, no evidence of them coming in men’s cuts or sizes.”

Whether you love em or hate em, an update: these shirts are available online at Target’s website. But sorry guys, no evidence of them coming in men’s cuts or sizes.
— Amy Haneline (@AmyBHaneline) January 7, 2018

Her tweet immediately drew support from some on social media, who saw the t-shirts as problematic.

Wow, haters gonna hate. Our daughter would call BS on this shirt. Her dad is a coach & she absolutely knows what is going on. It’s blatant sexism to assume all women are ignorant. @Target should be ashamed.
— RowzRowz (@RowZRose) January 8, 2018

Perpetuating stereotypes isn’t funny anymore…
— Bill Fisher (@ChantasticBill) January 6, 2018

Others, however, thought that Haneline may have been overreacting.

If U could go ahead and NOT GET RID OF THE SHIRTS, so that women with an Actual Sense of Humor can continue to buy them, that’d be great. Girls that “love and understand football” will simply get a freaking DIFFERENT SHIRT. Offended Amy shouldn’t be the decision maker here. WOW.
— Chicks On The Right (@chicksonright) January 7, 2018

If you don’t like the humor then don’t buy the shirt? Seems simple.
— Casey HT (@cjhampton) January 6, 2018

Didn’t realize target was creating a uniform that every woman in America must wear, when did that pass Congress.
— Brent Therrien (@brenttherrien) January 6, 2018

Target responded to Haneline’s tweet with an apology, writing “We never wish to offend our guests with our merchandise, and hope you can accept our sincerest apologies.”

Thanks for sharing this with us. We never wish to offend our guests with our merchandise, and hope you can accept our sincerest apologies. We would like to share your feedback, and ask that you please verify the Target store location this was displayed.
— AskTarget (@AskTarget) January 6, 2018

This isn’t the first time that a product sold at Target as made waves on social media. In December, the retail store faced criticism after a Cards Against Humanity expansion pack featured offensive, anti-Semitic statements on the cards. Target quickly pulled the cards from its stores.