LA Chain Agrees to Pull 'Boys are Stupid' T-Shirts After Storm of Protest from His Side Listeners

Men's News Daily, MND NEWSWIRE January 6, 2004,

The campaign began Sunday evening at 9 PM, and by 9 AM the next morning, it was all over.

Men's and fathers' issues radio talk show host Glenn Sacks declared a campaign against Tilly's clothing store, which sells T-shirts which say "Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them" , during the Sunday, January 4 broadcast of  His Side with Glenn Sacks in Los Angeles and Seattle. The shirts depict a little boy running away as several rocks come flying at his head.

The next morning Tilly's, which has 32 locations in Southern California, was deluged with angry e-mails and phone calls. Sam Mendelsohn, Tilly's Senior Vice President, issued a statement Monday morning saying he had "immediately instructed the removal of merchandise in question [throw rocks] from all locations." Mendelsohn expressed his "sincere apologies regarding the merchandise."

Several other men's and fathers' groups, including the Seattle-based Separated Parenting Access &  Resource Center (SPARC) and the National Coalition of Free Men Los Angeles joined the campaign against the T-shirts. The victory comes on the heels of a similar victory for the men's and fathers' movement in Seattle, when Bon Macy's, a major department store, agreed to remove the offensive T-Shirts from its stores in December. Bon Macy's was deluged with letters and phone calls after Sacks had issued a similar call for action during the December 14 broadcast of His Side

The shirts are distributed by David & Goliath, which says the shirts are among their best-sellers. As FOX news columnist Wendy McElroy noted in her column Christmas in a War Zone , the company also sells products which say "Boys Lie -- Make Them Cry" and "Boys are Smelly -- Throw Garbage Cans at Them." She wrote that animation on the David & Goliath website depicts a "'Stupid Factory'...where boys are produced...a little girl pelts [the boy] on the skull with a large rock and he tumbles, landing with his head planted fully in the earth."

During his January 4 broadcast Sacks gave out Tilly' s contact information and urged his listeners to "write them and call them and light them up. Be polite, but let them know exactly how you feel....degrading boys, insulting them, making our schools a hostile environment for them--we' re not taking it any more."

After Tilly's decision to remove the shirts was announced, Sacks  said that he "applauds the store for its wise and humane decision." He says that he has already chosen the next target for what he called "round 3" of the battle, which will begin with his next broadcast on Sunday January 11.

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