Primark's Racist T-Shirt: What Was It Saying?

In February 2017, Primark removed a range of T-shirts from its stores after complaints of racism from customers. The T-shirts featured the words Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe and an image of a bloodied baseball bat, referencing an episode of the TV show The Walking Dead. The issue was that the rhyme has racist origins, with early versions including the N-word.

Primark removes racist t-shirts from 300 stores

Primark has removed thousands of t-shirts from its 300 stores after a Methodist minister complained that the t-shirts were racist. The t-shirts in question were based on the US TV show, The Walking Dead, and featured the show's villain, Negan, holding a bloodied baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, with the rhyme "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" written on them.

Before killing his victims, Negan, who is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, decides on who to kill by pointing to them one by one with the baseball bat while reciting the rhyme.

Ian and Gwen Lucraft, a couple from Sheffield, spotted the t-shirt in a Primark store and complained to bosses that it was offensive. Mr Lucraft, a Methodist minister, said the "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" rhyme was racist as it was well known that the original version of the rhyme included a racial slur. He also said the bloodied bat was offensive and that the image related directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America.

In response to the complaint, Primark removed the t-shirts from all of its 300-odd stores and issued an apology, saying:

> "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."

T-shirts feature a quote and image from The Walking Dead

In 2017, Primark removed a T-shirt from its stores after receiving a complaint about its racist content. The T-shirt in question featured a quote and image from the US TV show, The Walking Dead.

The T-shirt featured the words "Eeny Meeny Miny Moe" alongside an image of a baseball bat. This is a reference to an episode of The Walking Dead in which the villain, Negan, uses this phrase before beating a character to death with a baseball bat. While the modern version of this rhyme continues with the phrase "catch a tiger by his toe", older versions used the N-word instead of "tiger".

Ian Lucraft, the customer who made the complaint, said he was shocked when he came across the T-shirt in a Primark store in Sheffield, UK. He described the T-shirt as "fantastically offensive" and said that it contained "racially explicit graphic and text". He also pointed out the violent imagery of the bloodied baseball bat, which he said related to the historical practice of assaulting Black people in America.

In response to the complaint, Primark removed the T-shirt from its stores and issued an apology. They stated that the T-shirt was licensed merchandise for The Walking Dead and that the quote and image were taken directly from the show. They also emphasised that any offence caused by the design was unintentional.

However, the decision to remove the T-shirt sparked a backlash on social media, with some people criticising Primark for catering to overly sensitive customers. Despite this, other versions of the T-shirt remain available for purchase online.

T-shirts were licensed merchandise for the US TV show

The T-shirts in question were licensed merchandise for the US TV show, *The Walking Dead*. The shirts featured the show's latest villain, Negan, holding a bloodied baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, which he uses to smash his victims' heads in. The character, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, uses the bat to kill long-standing favourites Glen and Abraham at the start of the seventh season. The T-shirts also featured the rhyme "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe", which has been in existence as a counting-out rhyme since at least the early 20th century. While the use of the N-word was once commonplace in the rhyme, it has generally been replaced with "tiger" in more recent versions.

In the episode the T-shirts refer to, Negan—who leads a gang called The Saviours—decides on who to kill by pointing to his victims one by one with the baseball bat while reciting the rhyme. Before killing the pair, he says, "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by his toe".

The T-shirts were removed from Primark's 300-odd stores after a Methodist minister, Ian Lucraft, complained that the phrase "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" was racist. Mr Lucraft said the rhyme was racist as it was well known that the rhyme went on to say, "catch a n* by his toe". He also said the bloodied bat was offensive, adding:

> We were shocked when we came face to face with a new t-shirt with a racially explicit graphic and text. 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.

A spokesman for Primark confirmed the T-shirts were being removed from all stores, saying:

> 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.

T-shirts deemed threatening of racist assault

In 2017, Primark removed a t-shirt from its stores after a Methodist minister complained that it was racist. The t-shirt in question featured an image from the US TV show The Walking Dead. It showed the show's villain, Negan, holding a bloodied baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, with the rhyme "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" written on it.

The character, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, uses the bat to smash his victims' heads in. Before killing two long-standing favourites, Negan decided on who to kill by pointing to his victims one by one with the baseball bat, while saying "eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by his toe".

The t-shirts were deemed threatening of a racist assault by Ian and Gwen Lucraft, a couple from Sheffield who spotted the t-shirt in a Primark store. Mr Lucraft, a Methodist minister, said the "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" rhyme was racist as it was well known that the rhyme went on to say "catch a n* by his toe". He also said the bloodied bat was offensive and that the image directly related to the practice of assaulting Black people in America.

In response to the complaint, Primark removed the t-shirts from all of its 300-odd stores and issued an apology, saying:

> "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."

Despite Primark's apology, there was some backlash on social media, with some people complaining that the decision to remove the t-shirts was an example of customers being "over-sensitive". Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the actor who plays Negan, also criticised the decision, calling it "stupid".

Backlash to Primark's decision to remove the t-shirts

Following a complaint by a Sheffield couple, Ian and Gwen Lucraft, about a racist t-shirt being sold in-store, Primark made the decision to remove the item from its shelves. The t-shirt in question was licensed merchandise from the US TV show, *The Walking Dead*, and featured the racist nursery rhyme "eeny meeny miny moe" alongside an image of a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

While some supported the retailer's decision, there was a backlash on social media from those who thought the t-shirt was not racist and that the removal was an example of customers being "over-sensitive".

One Twitter user, Adam, tweeted: "If you find this t-shirt 'racist' you're part of the problem." Another, Kim, said: "The complaint about the walking dead top Primark is hilarious. 'Fantastically offensive' No no it's not. #Primark #TWD."

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