‘What’s with the windmill?’ J.Crew puzzles Twitter with bizarre St Patrick’s Day shirt
J.Crew is being trolled for its frankly horrendous St Patrick’s Day t-shirt that depicts Northern Ireland as a blank space, while the rest of the island is covered in some very random items that don’t all exactly scream Irish.
Not surprisingly, beer, a harp and Dublin Castle are featured on the t-shirt, but the most prominent symbol of Ireland displayed on the clothing looks like it would be more at home on a product celebrating the Netherlands.
Hey, @jcrew, it's great that you're doing an Irish t-shirt for St Patrick’s Day, but this is offensive, bordering on obnoxious, for a couple of reasons. I'll let you figure it out for yourselves, but showing the design to any Irish person would have helped. 😢 pic.twitter.com/goAieDEawP
— Francis X Kennedy (@FXKennedy) February 17, 2019
Unbelievable. Is the J for jokers? pic.twitter.com/5aPbOsJnJo
— Commuting on my bike (@chausseedeforme) February 17, 2019
Front and center on the shirt is a large windmill, which is strange because Ireland is not known for its windmills. At all.
Apart from everything else...What's with the windmill???! 🤔
— FinF (@FinFarrell) February 17, 2019
Delighted they captured the Offaly wind farms. pic.twitter.com/5h4IgmEnTy
— David R. Pollard 🇮🇪 (@DavidPollardIRL) February 18, 2019
Yea i was wondering the same, not in my 26 years have I ever seen a windmill in Ireland
— ivan sheridan (@cleverfox0411) February 17, 2019
Apart from the missing six counties and obnoxious alcohol references, since when is one of the symbols of Ireland a windmill??? A windmill!!!
— Dr Julianne Stack (@stackju) February 18, 2019
J.Crew’s most egregious faux pas was the omission of Northern Ireland’s six counties from the map. While the island is divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, St Patrick’s Day is a day that all of Ireland celebrates.
Saint Patricks Day is an all Irish Day, celebrated by people in the 32 counties of Ireland. Do your homework then print. #green#orange#unity
— @bayerischmike (@irelandofequals) February 17, 2019
St Patrick’s Day celebrates Ireland’s patron saint, Patrick, who was brought to County Antrim (now in Northern Ireland) as a slave and is buried in County Down (also in Northern Ireland).
Especially considering that you cut out the piece of Ireland where Patrick was brought to as a slave.... (Antrim) , lived most of his life (Armagh) and is buried (Down)
— Beirneach (@Beirneach) February 18, 2019
This is absolutely appalling carry on. St. Patrick is buried in the bit of Ireland that you have LEFT OUT.
— O'Máille (@Flannlmacgowan) February 18, 2019
Hey @jcrew you do realise that St Patrick's final resting place is in Downpatrick? Downpatrick lies within the part of Ireland that your tshirt is missing
— what concerns me (@NeeNawtogirls) February 17, 2019
Many expressed disgust with J.Crew, with some calling for a boycott, while others simply had a laugh at how bad the t-shirt design was.
So the North of Ireland no longer exists & the South of Ireland is inhabited by alcoholics. The same eejits probably think that the Isle of Inisfree is the National Anthem...
— Dixie_Elliott (@IsMise_Dixie) February 18, 2019
Takes quite the effort to design a T-shirt to celebrate St. Patrick’s day and managing to offend every single Irish person. Jesus.
— Improper Bostonian (@ImproperBoston1) February 18, 2019
There's so many things wrong with this t-shirt 🙄😒 pic.twitter.com/Mbo7zLiP0v
— Áilbhe Coleman (@ailbhe82) February 17, 2019
Anyone found wearing one of these.......... pic.twitter.com/ooBdPoCuPy
— Galloper Thompson (@GalloperT) February 17, 2019
@jcrew delightful representation of Ireland. Beer, whiskey, “more beer” and a bite taken out 🙄 https://t.co/qhJLqqK2Sm
— Angela Scanlon (@angelascanlon) February 17, 2019
This isn’t the first time J.Crew has gotten confused about Irish geography, having previously advertised an ‘English Donegal tweed’ coat. Donegal is not in England, it’s – you guessed it – in Ireland.
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