Kitsch Is Key to Apparel Makers Branding Effort – Mexico’s NaCo Appeals to Hispanics, and Macy’s, by Mocking Latino Tackiness – (more on the NaCo T-shirt “Brown is the new white” pulled from Macy’s apparently not because it offend Latinas as headlines read but because of a conservative anti-immigration website)

“NaCo got its first U.S. break with a national retailer last week when 17 Macy’s stores in Texas and Atlanta began stocking eight women’s $25 T-shirts. (That happened after someone forwarded to one of the store’s buyers, a Latina, a New York Times travel article about Mexico City directing visitors to go first to a “cheeky streetwear” NaCo boutique in the trendy Condesa district and buy a T-shirt.)

Macy’s, however, quickly found that not everyone is amused by NaCo’s sense of humor. Its T-shirt with the fashion-parody slogan “Brown is the new white” drew immediate fire from a conservative anti-immigration website, generating e-mails to Macy’s threatening a boycott and online rants about racism and immigrants trying to take over America (one poster pointed out a possible link between Macys’ red-star logo and communism). Fox News did a story, and Macy’s pulled the “Brown is the new white” shirt.

Dean Schwartz, president-CEO of Naco USA, is unperturbed and said, “Macys has taken it in stride.” “

So my post about the article entitled “Macy’s T-Shirts Found Offensive By Latina Shoppers” was incorrect. However, reading through the blogosphere quite a number of Latinos were offended. I just wonder if they were influenced by articles like these or are they really offended. Interesting how this spun out. I mean I know that my opinion was definitely impacted by the mistaken headline.

Mistaken Headlines can be found at:
Macy’s Drops T-Shirt After Possibly Offending Hispanic Community
Macy’s Says ‘No Mas’ To Racial T-Shirt
Macy’s T-Shirts Found Offensive By Latina Shoppers

You can see how this spread across the web by looking at a Google search of “macys Brown Is The New White” and a Google Blog Search with the same term

• Carlos Baute Achieves Gold in Mexico
• Tattoo shops in Oaxaca
• Mexico could censor Twitter
• Carlos Fuentes and Jorge Edwards to Be at the 31st Palacio de Mineria International Book Fair, to be held in the Mexican capital Feb. 17-28
• How dangerous is Mexico? Despite drug war, it’s less deadly than it was a decade ago
• Mexico asks U.N. to honor its cuisine
• Torrential Rains in Mexico Leave at Least 28 Dead – various parts of central Mexico, Michoacan
• Ciudad Juárez Descends Another Circle in Hell
• Juárez massacre: Football players, honor student among 16 victims
• Mexico is the most dangerous country in Latin America for the press, Reporters Without Borders said Monday after a third journalist was reported killed within a month in that country.
• Lecturer speaks on Mexican migration at Michigan State University
• Mexico may become a major ‘Medical Tourism’ Destination
• Mexico GDP down 6.8% in 2009, worst in 30 years
• NFL’s Mexican fan base is rapidly growing, but will the country ever get a team?
• Gunmen shot and killed 14 people and wounded 14 others in an appalling attack at a birthday party in Juárez – The victims ranged in age from 13 to 42, eight of whom were students.
• Detained in Oaxaca: Human Rights Violations
• Lead investigator in the killing of Bobby Salcedo is slain in Mexico – Authorities would not speculate on whether his death is linked to the killing of the El Monte educator.
• Juárez mayor plans monument to women slain in border city
• Mexico’s President at Davos pushes for climate deal
• El escritor mexicano Juan Villoro fue declarado ayer ganador del Premio Internacional de Periodismo Rey de España, en su categoría del galardón Iberoamericano, por su reportaje “La alfombra roja, el imperio del narcotráfico”.