The Walking Dead fans’ fury after Primark removes show’s t-shirts from stores featuring ‘racist’ slogan
Shopper Ian Lucraft sent a scathing letter to the budget retailer's HQ to get the 'offensive' t-shirts off the shelves
FANS of The Walking Dead are up in arms about the withdrawal of a fan T-shirt from the shelves.
Primark today announced it was removing a top with the words "eeny meeny miny moe" emblazoned across it along with a bloodied baseball bat.
The T-shirt is a reference to the season 6 finale of the zombie show which saw a character Negan recite the rhyme whilst brandishing a bat looped with razor wire.
Primark removed the white men's top after a customer accused them of racism but now fans of the ths show have taken to social media to vent their fury at the decision.
Twitter user @AdamCJMcClean posted a picture of the t-shirt writing: "If you find this t shirt 'racist' you're part of the problem."
Gareth Puzy remarked: "@Primark why pull the t-shirt? "Fanatically racist"? Come off it! Someone needs to get off their soap box #WalkingDead @WalkingDead_AMC"
Paul Eaton commented: "@Primark If the walking dead T-Shirt is racist then Jingle Bells is offensive as Batman told me he does not smell & Robin did not lay a egg"
On Facebook the decision was greeted with equal contempt with users branding the decision "f***ing pathetic".
John Hunter commented: "Ah imagine a time where people weren't offended by Tshirts and baseball bats."
Primark was been forced to remove "racist" t-shirts from its stores after shoppers complained about the phrase, "eeny meeny miny moe" used on The Walking Dead branded clothing.
The slogan used in the final episode of the sixth series of the American horror drama about zombies was written on a white men's t-shirt with a picture of a bloodied baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
Shopper Ian Lucraft lodged a formal complaint about the "explicit" message after spotting it in a branch in Sheffield.
He told : “It was fantastically offensive and I can only assume that no-one in the process of ordering it knew what they were doing or were aware of its subliminal messages.
“The slogan is “Eeeny meenie miny moe…..”
"It stops there, but of course we all know what the original said: “catch a n***** by his toe.”
“The graphic has a large American baseball bat, wrapped round with barbed wire, and covered with blood.
"This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America. “It is directly threatening of a racist assault, and if I were black and were faced by a wearer I would know just where I stood.”
"Eeny meeny miny moe" is a popular children's counting rhyme used in games of tag, which dates back to 1820.
Primark chiefs have now apologised and removed the product from all of its stores.
It's after they received a scathing letter from Mr Lucraft, which read: “I assume that with some past incidents that I see have happened with Primark goods, you are anxious to prevent further bad publicity, and do not want to offend other shoppers.
“I can see that your website is strong on corporate responsibility so I hope you will take this t-shirt off sale immediately.”
A spokesman for Primark said: “The t-shirt in question is licensed merchandise for the U.S. television series, The Walking Dead, and the quote and image are taken directly from the show.
Any offence caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologises for this.
Primark
"Any offence caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologises for this.
“Primark has removed the product from sale.”
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