While we know Jay Jays for its loud music and loud shirts, others now know it as that clothing chain that promotes bullying.
Yep, Jay Jays’ new range of ‘You Can’t Sit With Us’ t-shirts, using a direct quote from hit film Mean Girls, is apparently responsible for encouraging children to exclude their peers.
Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg is urging the entire nation to boycott the store until it pulls the “disgraceful” outfits from the shelves.
“To me this is absolutely unacceptable,” Dr Carr-Gregg told media. “This is exclusionary bullying. This (bullying) is a major public health issue.”
“I talked to a mother of one 12-year-old who said if you had any idea what life is like in the playground for my 12-year-old old you would know this is obscene,” he added.
One woman posted on the Jay Jays Facebook page, “Of all the gazillion words and millions of phrases, why in the world are you so small minded?”
“I really think your creative culture ought to rise above this level of schoolyard immaturity and speak to your brand and your customers with far greater respect.”
A mother also posted that she was “horrified and disappointed in Jay Jays for making light of bullying”.
A bad look @jayjays_au promoting #bullying culture amongst teen girls. Do u really need to sell this sort of stuff? https://t.co/ITYrQCggkF
— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) November 8, 2015
Shame on @jayjays_au for this disgraceful t shirt – an ad for exclusionary bullying? @alasnich @alannahmadeline pic.twitter.com/0sXguiyk4F
— Michael Carr-Gregg (@MCG58) November 8, 2015
Maybe @jayjays_au should run a t-shirt with “#YouCANSitWithUs” on it? @MCG58 @sunriseon7 #psychweek #bullying
— APS (@APS_Media) November 8, 2015
Others didn’t seem to find it that offensive:
@Lisa_Wilkinson @jayjays_au Thats a quote from Mean Girls though? pic.twitter.com/yWA5FETP3t
— MamaDoloresUmbridge (@MAMA_UMBRIDGE) November 8, 2015
Don’t listen to everyone hating on the You Can’t Sit with Us shirt JayJays, they don’t even go here
Posted by Felicia Smetheram on Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Brilliant shirt! Will buy 1 for myself and wear it when I want to have some time to myself without the kids jumping on me!
Oh ladies on @sunriseon7 … get a grip. Jay Jays have been doing this for years. It’s a movie quote. U just sold that tee 4 them #jayjays
— Chris Gordon-Walker (@ChrisWilliamGW) November 8, 2015
In 2014, clothing store Cotton On released a t-shirt with the same phrase splashed across it, but was forced to pull the range and apologise after a similar influx of customer complaints.
“This is kind of like groundhog day,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.
