Under Armour has pulled out its "Band of Ballers" T-shirt last Saturday after facing criticism on social media for the shirt's design displaying a shadow of four basketball players lifting up a basketball hoop to its foundation after its great resemblance to the famous flag-raising at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.
"Under Armour has the utmost respect and admiration for the men and women on active duty and veterans who have served our country. As such, we deeply regret and apologize that a t-shirt that was not reflective of our values in honoring and supporting our country's heroes went on sale. We have taken immediate action to remove it from retail and will take great measures to ensure this does not happen again. Supporting those who serve our country has been part of our brand's DNA since the very beginning, and through our partnerships and by working directly with military organizations, it will always serve as the foundation of our efforts to give back," according to a Facebook post of the company last May 16.
The "Band of Ballers" T-shirt's design, advertised on the Under Armour's website, caused uproar last Friday on the company's social media channels of Facebook and Twitter, as it bears a strong likeness to the U.S. Marine Corp War Memorial statue at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The Iwo Jima Memorial was inspired by a group of servicemen at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, which resulted to 26,000 American casualties.
"Your marketing and design team made a mistake and used very poor judgement. Man-up and remove the 'Band of Ballers' scene from your merchandise," Facebook user Jamie Proffitt posted.
The blunder is very unusual for the brand, which has shared some of its profits to soldiers injured in combat.
"David Zellmann Veteran here. I am upset about the shirt but I waited for #UnderArmour to issue a statement. They owned up to it and so we move on," one Facebook user commented accepting the apology.
Under Armour apparels' sales have donated more than $3 million to the Wounded Warrior Project and college football teams who are in Under Armour contract have been wearing special jerseys dedicated to the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for the country.
A company spokeswoman did not respond to inquiries from The Wall Street Journal regarding how many of the shirts had been sold. The listing of the banned shirt has ended on eBay May 17 and it's also no longer available via Belk.
