The photo of a T-shirt of a monkey’s body, holding a banana, with the head of a smiling African American boy quickly went viral, sparking controversy for children’s clothing line, Just Add A Kid. The brand quickly came to their defense, citing the T-shirt as “a total misunderstanding.”
“We are looking into all the situations that occurred around this little incident,” company co-creator Lowell Cohen told the Daily News over the phone. “We’re looking at the vendor, we’re speaking to our employees.”
The Just Add A Kid T-shirts feature the bodies of cartoon characters, ranging from cowboys, angels, princesses, and various occupations and animals. In a later statement, the company said the pairing was “not authorized, condoned or tolerated” by the company.
It appears to be the decision of each vendor in how they pair the cardboard faces that comes separately — featuring various ethnicities — to the designs. But many aren’t buying the company’s explanation. Also available on the company’s website are Confederate Army uniform T-shirts, onesies, and baby bibs complete with a Confederate flag.
In a statement, Just Add a Kid declared: “In this particular case, one of our retailers paired a particular hanger with a shirt without consideration for how it may appear to many consumers. We are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.”
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