A major department store in the Philippines has pulled from its shelves an offensive T-shirt bearing a slogan mocking the definition of rape, following public outrage and criticism of the retailer online.
The SM Store claims it was unaware that the shirt -- emblazoned with the words “It’s not rape. It’s a snuggle with a struggle” -- was for sale. Representatives say they were first notified of the insensitive garment after shopper Karen Kunawicz posted an image of the shirt to her Facebook page Monday. Kunawicz says she discovered the shirt in the boys section of the store.
Her Facebook post has been shared more than 4,000 times.
The SM shopping center chain boasts 43 branches across the Philippines and more in China, according to The Independent.
It's unclear who designed the offensive T-shirt or how it wound up priced and available to customers. However, the retailer on Tuesday issued an apology on the company's Facebook, announcing it had pulled all of the shirts.
Last year, Amazon came under fire for allowing one of its merchants, online retailer Solid Gold Bomb to sell a shirt bearing the slogan "Keep Calm and Rape a Lot," a play off the famous World War II slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On."
SM did not immediately return a request for comment.