The petition posted online by feminist lobby group Collective Shout has demanded the clothing store, popular among teens, pull t-shirts with suggestive slogans like “jingle my bells” and “big booty b—hes” from its racks, and called on the chain to “make a commitment to exercise corporate responsibility to its young customers now and in the future”.
“It is time Supré paid attention to research and concerns expressed by leading child psychologists about sexualisation,” the petition’s author Melinda Liszewski wrote on change.org.
“Girls are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, body image issues and eating disorders… It is these problems that Supré is contributing to through its marketing.”
Since being published online on Wednesday morning, the petition has been getting closer to its goal of 5000 signatories with hundreds voicing comments of support and sharing on social media.
Ms Liszewski began the protest after being sent an image of the “jingle my bells” t-shirt and found more items she was offended by online.
“This is a store for young girls,” she told The Weekly.
“How many young girls are going to know the full implications of these messages? They may not understand that ‘jingle my bells’ is an invitation that’s been plastered across their chest.”
Supré was the subject of community outrage in 2010 attracting the attention of then NSW Premier Kristina Keneally who called on the chain to withdraw t-shirts with slogans “Santa’s b—h” and “North Pole Dancer”.
Ms Liszewski said she was “surprised to see this happen again”.
Child sexualisation expert Dr Emma Rush from Charles Sturt University said she found the messages exploitative and applauded the protest.
“Sexualised slogans on t-shirts for adult women are offensive, on t-shirts for young teenage girls they are completely unacceptable. They promote acceptance of a pornified culture,” she told The Weekly.
Dr Rush said withdrawing the items from sale would give Supré an opportunity to do something positive.
“It’s a clear case of business ethics. If a business’s main market is underage girls they’ve essentially got a duty of care to their customers. They’ve got an opportunity here to be responsible, to be leaders, and change their ways.”
Supré has responded with a decision to withdraw the “jingle my bells” t-shirt from sale in stores and online saying “we regret that the singlet in question may have alarmed [customers]” and has apologised to customers in a statement to The Weekly.
When questioned about the other slogan t-shirts referred to in the petition a representative from the Cotton On Group said it was just the one product that would be withdrawn at this time.
“That’s the one we have had the most customer engagement around but we are reviewing all of the products in that collection and will make a statement when a decision has been made.”
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