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Brands & Merch
Abercrombie & Fitch withdraws Taylor Swift-referencing t-shirt after protests
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 24 June 2013
Overpriced garment seller Abercrombie & Fitch is used to dealing with controversy, but even it had to quickly back down once it felt the wrath of the Taylor Swift fanbase.
The retail firm launched a t-shirt earlier this year with the strapline “more boyfriends that TS”, a jokey reference to the string of celebrity love interests the singer has reportedly enjoyed in recent years.
It took Swift’s fans a while to see the tee, but once they did a petition on Change.org was quickly organised. And then one fan posted a YouTube video urging other followers of the songstress to call Abercrombie’s PR department and let them know what they thought about the Swift-mocking top.
It seems likely that it was the latter move that persuaded A&F bosses to pull the t-shirt. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company’s PR hotline was playing a recorded message last week that said: “Thank you for calling Abercrombie & Fitch public relations. If you are calling regarding the Taylor Swift t-shirt, please note that this is no longer available”.
Meanwhile the company took to Twitter to announce: “Hey Swifties, we no longer sell the t-shirt. We <3 Taylor's music and think she's awesome!" Whether A&F rating Swift's music with a "less than three" will placate her fans isn't clear, though the retailer famously likes low numbers when it comes to the ladies.
