Terrifying videos of desperate Afghans clinging to the US aircraft in an attempt to flee the country spread all over the world on August 17. Two people died falling from the aircraft.
As misery and tragedy unfolded in Afghanistan an Etsy brand came up with a t-shirt that had a picture of people falling from an aircraft; under which was written “Kabul Skydiving Club Est. 2021”.
The Product
The unisex t-shirt depicting silhouettes of 2 people falling from a military aircraft by a brand called ‘conaneShop’ appeared on the e-commerce platform Etsy.
The product description read “Featuring the scene of the plane flying in the sky and suddenly, there are two people falling from it, the Kabul Skydiving Club Shirt is officially becoming a phenomenon and goes viral on the Internet after that!”
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Backlash On Twitter
Netizens were quick to call out the product for its insensitive portrayal of the tragic incident. “Someone decided to capitalize on their (Afghans) pain and misery with this repulsive t-shirt,” wrote Holly Dagres, an Iranian-American analyst and commentator on the Middle East on Twitter.
Several others called it “sick”, “disgusting” and “shameful business”. Parenting company Etsy was heavily criticized for not curating their products and was accused of making fun of Afghani people and profiting out of human tragedy.
New ‘Pray for Afghanistan’ T-shirts
Following the extreme backlash, the brand removed the controversial t-shirts from their Etsy profile and launched a new ‘Pray for Afghanistan’ T-shirt. “Free Afghanistan” t-shirts are also available on Etsy now.
Even though Etsy has removed the distasteful skydiving t-shirt; the same is available in many other websites like Gebli and TShirt At Low Price.
Image Sources: Google images, Twitter
Sources: Twitter, The Logical Indian, The Indian Express,
Find the blogger: @truly_Vinaya
This Post Is Tagged Under: Afghanistan, Kabul, Kabul airport, Etsy, skydiving club, backlash, backlash on Twitter, Twitter, netizens, Taliban, US aircraft, Kabul skydiving club, pray for Afghanistan, Taliban, Taliban rule, refugees, e-commerce platforms
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