Talk about marketing gone really, really wrong.
A Toronto fashion boutique has come under fire thanks to a window display that echoes slavery and has major racial implications.
The display at the Yorkville store Eton of Sweden features two nooses (in what world is that ok?) hanging over a man's white shirt in a suitcase surrounded by cotton plants.
The image was first brought to the public's attention when the R&B group En Vogue posted a photo to their Facebook page on Thursday.
The display has reportedly been up for months but as far as we can tell, no one aside from the group took any notice. Group member Rhona Bennett also posted a photo of the display to her Instagram page.
"Ummm... Do you see??? What are they advertising for the Eton shop in Toronto, Canada?? #Yorkville," Bennett captioned the pic.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time a retailer, or for that matter the fashion industry, has been racially and culturally insensitive.
Urban Outfitters has come under fire for selling "Jewish star" t-shirts and "Navajo" products while fashion editor Anna Dello Russo recently drew the public's ire by wearing a Native American headdress and calling it an "Ibiza hat." One of the most disturbing controversies this year was when a fashion blogger used a Jewish mausoleum as a backdrop for a photo shoot.
As a press time, representatives of Eton of Sweden haven't commented on the controversy.
Update: The company's North American sales director Chris Donohue told CityNews that the window display wasn't meant to be offensive. Rather it was meant to be "a whimsical display of a swing over a cotton field." The display will be taken down immediately.
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