In attempt to be hip and trendy Macy's has pissed off some people and were forced to pull a t-shirt off its shelves. There is a clothing line that Macy's claims is " geared toward Latina shoppers looking to express cultural identity through fashion." As a play off the term "Grey (insert other cool color of the season) is the new Black", they had created a brown shirt and emblazoned in white lettering "Brown is the New White". A Hispanic marketing expert says this shirt is offensive to some Hispanics. "Macy's doesn't know a whole lot about what Hispanics want in the way of clothing. It also says that Macy's doesn't understand Hispanic culture. More importantly, it says that Macy's doesn't understand the Hispanics that lives in the U.S. and the kinds of products they are looking for," Rincon said. These kind of quotes crack me up. This expert (no doubt an older male) claims to know what offends young Hispanics. (and don't get me started on that word!) This article really peaked my interest. I thought, I am a educated Chicana woman and if I walked into a Macy's a saw this shirt what would be my reaction? I think it would catch my eye, I would probably pick it up and show it to PR Dad and we would laugh. Back in the day I would have probably bought it and worn it, but today probably not. I don't have the patience for the ignorant people who would no doubt stop me and ask me about the shirt. So what I don't understand is how "Hispanics" would be offended by this shirt. As I read the comments that people left about the article more "Whites" were offended by the shirt. If you really think about it the term "Brown is the New White" it is saying that Latinos are now the majority population. And in a lot of places in the US this is a true statement. So tell me people what do you think about this issue?
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haha i think the shirt is hilarious because it is true. the only reason i could think of for mexicans to be offended is that the shirt is refering to the fact that all the illegal people here want to be americans. i dunno.
ReplyDeletethis is what I think,and it does offen me. I am a Mexican and I in no way want to be white.The shirt say's to me that mexicans want to be white.
ReplyDeleteTHis is why I buy only Dickies clothes at OSH or Sears. The stuff never goes outta style and you can be sure to get fresh ones if you ever land in the joint.
ReplyDeleteNOBODY tells me what to wear or what color and Macy's trying to is insulting. They obviously have a warehouse full of unsold brown fabric costing them painful storage fees and they came up with this campain. That's why I never go there. It's a crap store full of trendy crap for mostly women and gay guys. They don't sell tools or beer. Why go there?
--g$
i get the we are becoming the majority thing, but it also make me think like dad, i dont want to be white.
ReplyDeletefrom macy's standpoint i don't think this is just a take on "hot color of the season" is the new black- there is no racial undertone to this. black is slimming, black is sleek/classy/etc- this is not racialized. when macy's explains this shirt/clothing is for the latina/os to express themselves through fashion they attach a racial tone to the shirt. the shirt is saying many things by "the new white"...1) it used to be cool to be white; 2) white is was what you wanted to be before it went "out of style"; and 3) like any fashion trend trend this is just a fad and will go away...yeah, i wouldn't wear the shirt. i don't like what it implies.
ReplyDeleteP.S. 4) The shirt also implies that White is the standard you should be striving for...
ReplyDelete