A lot of people forget that Amazon’s site can be used like a bidless eBay.
Almost anyone can sign up to sell things as an individual or professional, bolstering AmazonÂ’s offerings and allowing others to make money off the sales giantÂ’s infrastructure.
However, this can lead to some questionable products being associated with Amazon.
Like, a shirt was being offered through Amazon that said:
“Daddy’s Little Sl*t”.
The shirt was offered in childÂ’s sizes from as small as 2T.
1. Available for sale on @amazon: “Daddy’s Little Slut” t-shirt...for children
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) November 8, 2019
Posting here in hopes it’ll expedite removal from Amazon https://t.co/KXi2e6lwNu pic.twitter.com/uuUtQ3DRC5
Journalist Yashar Ali posted the offending item to his Twitter account to draw attention to the product. His hope was to have it removed quickly and hold Amazon accountable for what they allow to be sold through their website.
While the shirtÂ’s slogan is in poor taste, thatÂ’s a subjective matter. Some adults may want a shirt with that written on it.
Or maybe something actually cool instead?
However, allowing OnlyBabyCare to sell it targeted at children is less subjectively bad.
How could they try to sell this for kids?
I would buy this shirt for me but for a child ??? Nahhh ???? https://t.co/xj5BO26NMi
— lil isa vert (@isabel_isa_bell) November 12, 2019
If this is true, then its revolting.. https://t.co/LWjsgxXSBR
— Dr Michael Stephenson (Life Plus) (@Life_Plus_Ltd) November 10, 2019
Had no idea about this one, but the fact that it's been ON @amazon 's SITE SINCE JUNE was a problem. Unreal. https://t.co/4EM3uHvqbs
— Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) November 9, 2019
Holy Crap! How awful.???? https://t.co/9uJzKEujHA
— Say my name (@ratkat1973) November 9, 2019
Well, it comes down to how the seller works. Many businesses like this will auto-generate shirts to be sold, with the designs placed on stock models.
So, a child didn’t wear this shirt for the image. That’s a little reassuring.
Additionally, they are based on popular phrases and memes shared throughout social media, often without any kind of context. So itÂ’s really Twitter and RedditÂ’s fault.
Plenty of other sellers have similar processes.
Which is why you can still find some very questionable products.
IOW this is not a real product on a real model. It's a computer generated image inserted into an automated listing based on a bazillion phrases spit out by some SEO Listing BotMonster.
— Anthony Citrano (@acitrano) November 8, 2019
The “Daddy’s Little Sl*t” shirt was eventually pulled thanks to Yashar’s tweet, along with several other clothing items that have been reported.
However, because of AmazonÂ’s almost non-existent moderation before an item is sold on the website, there are still controversial t-shirts up on the site.
The following were all still being sold at the time of writing.
Have you ever wanted your child to wear shirts that imply dirty jokes?
You could use your infant child to endorse three ways!
Or how about just the original shirt we talked about but slightly different.
Gross.
We can go through and report these things, but itÂ’s a small band-aid put on after the damage is done.
There are sure to be people who see these as just jokes or believe in freedom of speech with these items. However, weÂ’re not talking about banning the sale of these t-shirts.
WeÂ’re talking about how theyÂ’re associated with Amazon. Sure, theyÂ’re being sold by a different company, in the strictest technical sense, but Amazon is allowing them to be sold through their website.
If they donÂ’t want to be associated with these items, they canÂ’t be reactive, they must be proactive.
