So apparently neo-nazis can get their own shirts at Wal-Mart now?

http://www.bentcorner.com/2006/11/09/wal-mart-is-selling-shirts-with-a-nazi-ss-skull-on-it/

The comments are almost as interesting.

Wow. That's bad.

I really don't understand retail.

Wow, imagine that.

That's item 12,073 on his "Things I Don't Understand" list.

You forgot about 6 or 7 zeros.

Back to the topic...

That looks like someone just saw an old military skull and slapped it on a t-shirt without researching who's it was. I wonder if they saw it on an old biker or something.

I hate how people take historical things that actually have significant meaning and then slap them on a T-shirt for people to buy just because "that looks cool!"

Very few people will know whats on their shirt.

Welcome to commercialism.

Oh how I hate it.

But didn't you say you liked Call of Duty 2?

<_< >_>

That's totally different.

Someone in that blog, a graphic designer apparently, said that an artist probably used Google Image Search to find a different looking skull, and just happened to find that one.

Irony (n): Axis speaking out against neo-Nazism

I find this kind of funny actually (and kind of sad).

Since a great many people seem to rely on material purchases to construct their identity, this preference towards appropriating signs for their aesthetic appeal over any original signified meaning or historical/social context reveals just how vapid and shallow this love of surfaces really is. They won't understand the meaning of the signs - and this is ok, because they don't care about a multitude of meanings when all signs are reduced to decoration (I think of the bird that decorates its nest with blue things to impress a potential mate, whether it be a piece of blue yarn or a handicap symbol is irrelevant to the bird's only purpose).

The design and marketing of these products goes hand in hand with that ideology, divorcing all signs and symbols of their previously relevant meanings, and providing us with a vast array of pretty things on store shelves (I think this is evident in one comment to the original blog where a designer talks about creating dozens of "vintage" skull images for a deadline).

Hahahaha, What a "deutsch" bag.







Beat me to it. But I was going to reference the twin towers and scripture thing too.

Have you seen people wearing shirts with Asain text? I'm willing to bet they have no clue what the writing says but ...it makes the shirt look exotic and stylish.

Funny. When I visited Korea, I saw a Korean man wearing a T-Shirt that clearly displayed the word F***. I believe he must have purchased this shirt while visiting NYC or someplace.

Shirts with the F word on them are not anything new or umcommon. A lot of the stores around the Cal campus sell shirts that say "**** Stanfurd".

That's a great idea though

Well I was trying to make the connection that a man from Korea may not know how his shirt could be considered offensive to some. Its not like everyday you see someone with a black shirt with a statement clearly containing the F word (I forget what the statement said).

Like what has been said before, people often ignore the meaning or implications of displaying a certain symbol or text because only fashion comes to mind.

I used to wear a shirt that said "**** you, you ****ing ****!" all the time...

I put in an order for 12 of them

Ooh, skull.

That's so original.

[QUOTE=Duo Maxwell]I put in an order for 12 of them :D[/QUOTE]


You going to shave your head and read "Mein Kampf" too?

And join the RIAA?

I am President of the RIAA, I liked "Mein Kampf", it was a good book. Currently I'm writing about my struggles as the RIAA president, I'm going to call it 'My Struggle'.

Mein Kampf

I'll wear a shirt with a symbol I know nothing about on it, as long as it looks like I would like a shirt I wear to look. Symbology is kinda ****ty sometimes. I will wear a shirt because of the direct esthetic value of its graphic. If I happen to like the way that skull looks w/ that date, or whatever, I should wear it without giving thought to what it means, because THAT'S more in tune with the 'outer appearances' theme... What your shirt means, what it stands for, blah blah blah, instead of just how it is, apart from all reference.

That said, it's obvious that other people may still look at the shirt and say "Hey, that's a freaking Nazi shirt," which in that case is kinda bad, but in other circumstances, worrying about what the symbol means to other people, like I said above, is about outer appearances being important.

It's late, that may not have been entirely coherent, and I'm not arguing w/ you either way, I'm just presenting a different way to look at it... I happen to see things the way you stated too... oy.

There's an NIN shirt that I gave to my father than features a symbol that everyone seems to confuse with a swastika. It's quite humorous.

I have that shirt.

[quote=Miami Herald]'We would never have done that shirt if we had known,'' said Deutsch, president of Miami-based Orange Clothing Company, a manufacturer of young men's apparel. ``Furthermore, I'm Jewish.''[/quote]

haha, did anyone else think this was funny? As if to suggest that if he wasn't jewish it'd be ok to put nazi symbols on tee-shirts.

No, I see that statement as providing an extra layer of defense to support his claim he was ignorant.

Also, this sort of thing is very common. Companies regularily take symbols and apply them to clothing and accessories and whatnot, with little thought about what the symbols mean.

For example: http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/neo-nazi_iron-cross.asp

The link above shows an Iron Cross with a swastika super-imposed in the center. While this symbol was used pre-nazi era as a commendation for soldiers, it became famous for its widespread use in nazi germany (specifically with the swastika displayed). It's still considered by many to be very offensive, as it brings to mind the nazi regime.

We in America however, know its slightly stylized form as the Independent Truck Company's logo.

(The website above has many other symbols as well and is quite interesting. I'd suggest a read if this sort of thing interests you.)

Obviously that was his intention. I'm just saying the guy's a retard (which is obvious since he didn't bother to research the symbols he's putting on his clothing before mass producing them).

Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of respect for him, certainly not... What kind of ****wad scours google image search and rips art to put on T-shirts? This would never have happened if he produced original content.

well actually...



But yeah, I agree with your sentiment. The guy's just trying to make a quick buck from other people's ingenuinity.

Surely Walmart executives should have checked too. Don't they have people to take a look at products?

They did. They approved, because they didn't realize it was an SS Totenkopf. It's less recognizable than other Nazi symbology.

My friend bought a shirt in India that he liked, with various Hindu symbols all over it. For a while, he was unwilling to wear it here in the States, just because one of the symbols was a swastika. He eventually got over it, and decided to wear it in public, and never had a problem. It was a nice shirt, too. I can't find any news stories about it at the moment, but I've read reports about Jain temples being vandalized because of the swastikas on the entrance. Two swastikas on the entrance is a requirement for a Jain temple, and it is their most important symbol. It is also important in Hinduism and Buddhism, and much of the art and architecture of these religions features them prominently.

Unless I missed it somewhere, what does the "since 1978" mean?