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In an ad that aired in select markets during Sundays Super Bowl, Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, encouraged viewers to visit his website, Yeezy.com. The site originally listed a variety of merchandise, but right after the ad aired, quickly limited the selection to a single $20 white T-shirt emblazoned with a large black swastika. The site listed the product under the name HH-01, which, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), is code for Heil Hitler. Yes site hosted the shirt, but it was sold through the ecommerce platform Shopify. The shirt remained live until Shopify removed the listing this morning, and now searching Yeezy.com leads to an error page. While the T-shirt is no longer available through Shopify, Fast Company found that one reseller, as of this morning, had already listed the shirt for sale on eBay at a huge markup of more than $600. This suggests there is a secondary market for the shirts following a day of sales on the original site. [Screenshot: eBay] Following an inquiry from Fast Company, eBay removed the listing. But this afternoon, another reseller posted a listing for the shirt that blurred out the swastika symbol, possibly as a workaround to eBay’s offensive items policy. eBay has since taken down this posting, as well. The far-right has used similar codes and hate symbols during President Trump’s first term, and that practice is on the rise again. The dog whistles in conservative politics have become bullhorns in the Trump era, Robert Rowland, professor of communications at the University of Kansas, who studies Trumps rhetoric, told Fast Company in 2021. The incident calls into question how retailers should walk the line between upholding free speech and standing against hateful rhetoricespecially in an era when many major brands are walking back their commitments to DEI. Shopify and eBay respond to Ye’s swastika shirt In a statement to Fast Company on the takedown of the T-shirt listing, an eBay spokesperson said, eBay has zero-tolerance for items that promote anti-Semitism or hate of any kind. eBays Offensive Items policy prohibits the listing of anti-Semitic items, including any items from after 1933 that include a swastika. The shirts in question are covered by this policy and eBay is actively blocking or removing any listings for them. Sellers who violate eBay policies may face sanctions up to, and including, a permanent suspension. In reference to the removal of the Yeezy website, a Shopify spokesperson stated, All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms, so we removed them from Shopify. Apparently, Shopify was aware of the T-shirt listing by Monday afternoon at the latest, but discouraged its support staff from commenting if any merchant clients reached out about the item, according to a report from The Logic. This isnt the first time that Shopify has faced criticism for accommodating items that could constitute hate speech. Back in June 2024, Shopify appeared to have updated its Acceptable Use Policy to remove a previous ban of hateful content, replacing it with a condition that sellers cannot call for, or threaten, violence against specific people or groups. Then, in November, Shopify drew backlash for hosting a store that posted merch denying the Holocaust and parodying the likeness of Anne Frank. Shopify did not respond to Fast Companys request for clarification on the distinction between Yes swastika T-shirt and the aforementioned listings, which appear to still be live at the time of this writing. What this means for brands going forward The HH-01 T-shirt came after Ye published a series of antisemitic tweets to his personal X account, including one claiming, Im going to normalize talking about Hitler, which ultimately led to the shutdown of the account. Ye has a storied history of fallouts with business partners due to rampant instances of hate speech. Back in 2022, longtime collaborator Adidas cut ties with the artist after he published a series of antisemitic comments. Other brands, including the talent agency CAA and the tech company Kano, also ended their partnerships with Ye. It’s possible that Ye expected his Shopify site to go down, and even with the shutdown of the Yeezy domain, he got what he wanted: an attention-grabbing stunt, and shirts featuring hate symbols on secondary markets, indicating that the political climate is creating a permission structure for hate groups to wear what were formerly dog whistles on their sleeve. While Yes clash with Shopify is nothing new, it demonstrates a need for increased vigilance from companies like Shopify and eBay to screen their listings and act quickly to remove hateful products. Especially now, amid a complete crackdown on DEI policies from the federal level, the onus lies on brands to take responsibility for harmful imagery.
Category:
E-Commerce
The “American woman in Pakistan” now has a crypto coin. If you dont know who that is, American Onijah Andrew Robinson recently went viral after claiming she flew to Pakistan to marry a 19-year-old she met online, only to be rejected. Instead of returning home, she has become somewhat of a celebrity in Pakistan, holding high-profile press conferences in Karachi where she demands money and declares her plans to rebuild the country. Thanks to TikTok, she has since gone international as that “American woman in Pakistan.” In an interview with the City 21 news channel, Robinson announced her entry into the crypto market last week. I would like to say I am launching a bitcoin under Onijah, but it would run under Nidal Ahmed, she stated in a viral clip (Nidal Ahmed Memon is the name of her 19-year-old former fiance). Memon, for those keeping track, is the name of the man she apparently traveled to Karachi to meet and marry in October last year. At the time of the coin launch, Robinson had overstayed her visa in Pakistan by at least two months, remaining in the country despite her permit expiring. According to Bilal Hassan, a Pakistani TikToker who has been translating the saga into English for audiences around the world, Robinson allegedly catfished Memon during their online interactions, using a filter that made her appear as a blonde white woman. This revelation reportedly alarmed Memons mother, who locked Robinson out of their home and disappeared with the entire family. Nobody knows where they went, Hassan claims. A man claiming to be Robinsons son told a local news outlet that she has a history of mental illness and local news reports say she was admitted to a Pakistani hospital in February, where she was seen by psychiatrists. However, in recent weeks Robinson became a minor hit in Pakistani media. In one press conference, Robinson announced a plan to reconstruct this whole country. In order to do that, she said she needed $100,000 in donations. In another press conference, she asked for a weekly payment of at least $2,000. I want $20,000 up front, $5,000-$10,000 to stay here every week, she said, according to videos circulating on TikTok. And I want those demands from the government right away. Now, some four months later, local media reports she has finally left Pakistan.
Category:
E-Commerce
The majority of Google Maps users across the globe today will notice a significant change on the platform if they zoom into the body of water south of the United States and east of Mexico. Thats because Google has updated the name of that basin from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Heres what you need to know about the name change, including why it was made, who will see it, and if the world’s other major digital maps providerApplewill follow suit. Why did Google rename the Gulf of Mexico? The fact that Google has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America is no surprise. As a matter of fact, back in January, Google announced it would be making the name changea move it was widely ridiculed for on social media. So why is Google making the change? Officially, its because the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the Gulf of America in the United States Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) register. In a blog post announcing the name change, Google said the name change is consistent with our longstanding practices of adopting the names used in the GNIS. But many have claimed that the real reason for the name change is to appease President Trump, which the search giantlike most other American tech companieshas been trying to keep happy since his return to power last month. In January, President Trump issued an executive order that mandated the oceanic basins name be officially changed. Can Trump and Google really do this? As Fast Company previously reported, the president of the United States has the power to rename geographic locals to whatever they wishwithin limitations. While presidents can mandate name changes, they can only do so on the national level. Other countries are under no obligation to recognize any such changesand as far as Im aware, none have yet embraced the new Gulf of America moniker. As a private company, Google doesnt have to follow any naming changesbut not doing so would risk the wrath of the president. Who sees Gulf of America in Google Maps now? Not everyone, but a majority of the world. In a blog post announcing the name change, Google says the specific label you’ll see on the gulf depends on where you are located in the world. Based on your location, youll see the gulf labeled in one of three ways in Google Maps: Users in the United States: will see the basin labeled as the Gulf of America only. Users in Mexico: will see the basin labeled as the Gulf of Mexico only. Users outside of America and Mexico: will see the basin labeled as Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America). As Google explains, The names you see in the Maps app are based on your country location, which is determined by information from your phones operating system (e.g., iOS and Android), including your SIM, network, and locale. It says users of Google Maps on the web will see the name based on the region set in their accounts search settings, or based on their devices location. Will Apple Maps rename the Gulf of Mexico? While Google Maps is the largest digital mapping provider in the world, it has a strong competitor in Apple Maps. As of the time of this writing, the gulf basin is still labeled as the Gulf of Mexico in the Apple Maps app. Will that change? Thats yet to be seen, but if Apple designates geographic landmarks based on their names in the GNIS register, as Google does, then it is likely we can expect to see the Gulf of America name change show up in the iPhone makers maps, too. Fast Company has reached out to Apple to ask if it will be making the name change. We will update this post with the company’s reply.
Category:
E-Commerce
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