Just two weeks after H&M was forced to apologize to customers for a hoodie many deemed racist, Amazon (AMZN) has found itself in hot water for a children’s clothing line that seems to endorse slavery.
The online retailer has pulled a number of products that featured the slogan “slavery gets shit done.” The products, Amazon told Reuters, were listed by third-party sellers.
“All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” an Amazon spokesman told the news agency. “The products in question are no longer available.”
Among the products that featured the slogan (with a picture of pyramids in the background) were t-shirts, mugs, baby bibs, tote bags, and jumpers.
Amazon declined to comment when contacted by Coins2Day, referring all inquiries to its policy on offensive products. That policy prohibits “products that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance or promote organizations with such views.”
Shoppers took the retailer to task on social media.
.@amazon how lovely is this? A little white boy with a highly insensitive and ignorant ‘Slavery Gets Shit Done’ bib on. Hmm.. Did they pick the cotton right amazon? Or no? Gotta love 2018, what a great start. #Amazon #BOYCOTTAMAZON pic.twitter.com/DKKLFH4JKJ
— oru 🧚🏽♂️ (@0rumara) January 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/McQuade906/status/955635675713425408
https://twitter.com/elleyochanan/status/955445972443811840
While some products with the slogan remained on the U.S. Site longer than Amazon’s U.K. Store, they have since been removed and a search of the site shows no products using that expression.
Slavery is not just a historical issue. According to the United Nations International Labour Organization, some 40 million people were living as slaves last year.
