Store Takes Heat for Selling ‘Problem Solved’ T-Shirt
By BETTY ADAMS
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA — A children’s T-shirt has aroused the ire of a local shopper.
The T-shirt depicts two panels of stick figures, with a male figure pushing a female figure out of a box. Captioned "Problem Solved," the shirt has appalled people engaged in deterring domestic violence.
"I thought that shirt was very offensive, and I’m sure people who made that shirt thought it was cute," District Attorney Evert Fowle said Friday. "But when you prosecute 728 domestic violence cases a year, it’s not cute."
The shirt was removed briefly after a customer protested — but later returned to the shelves of the Augusta Kmart.
Earlier this week, Kristin Aiello of Hallowell told Kmart store manager Joyce Beane the message on the shirt was offensive.
"I see so much domestic abuse in our community," said Aiello, a lawyer who frequently represents children involved in the court system. "I see children in jeopardy."
Aiello said the shirt sends the wrong message to the young wearers.
"It affirms that this sort of a solution is OK," she said. "A child can’t filter it the way adults can."
Beane pulled the shirts Tuesday. On Friday, she referred all questions to corporate headquarters.
By late Friday, Kimberly Freely, manager of corporate relations for Sears Holdings Corp., Kmart’s parent company, said the Augusta Kmart will continue to sell the shirts, manufactured by Route 66 clothing company.
"We respect the opinions of our customers," Freely said in a statement issued from corporate headquarters. "However, we believe these attitude Ts are meant to be light-hearted in nature.
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