West Coast fashion boutique Kitson badly fumbled its social media response to Kristen Johnston, who was outraged over the shop’s sale of drug-themed T-shirts and football jerseys. Kitson threatened to involve the police if Johnston didn’t remove her “threat” to the shop’s customers, but in light of the store’s aggressive response, Johnston reposted her original tweet.
Guys, I am in no way "cowed" by @KitsonLA. They demanded I delete a TL, claiming I was threatening harm to (cont) http://t.co/GIwQQKfZHn
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) August 29, 2013
Guys, I am in no way “cowed” by @KitsonLA. They demanded I delete a TL, claiming I was threatening harm to their clients & saying they’d take legal action if I didn’t.
I CHOSE to remove it, in hopes they would be respectful in return. Instead they told me to “bully the drug dealers” and condescendingly advised me to “buy t-shirts, not drugs.”
Since any chance of communicating in a respectful manner has clearly flown out the window, here is the TL they took such exception to.
*Note for the humor-impaired: I am joking about harming anyone who wears the stupid shirts. Although I can’t promise I won’t verbally assault them.
“Guys,
I have a sense of humor, & love making fun of everything, addiction included. But when a stupid trashy Hollywood store thinks its cool to sell t-shirts like this, I gotta say something.Not for me, personally. (Personally you wear whatever you want, just know if you buy one of them & we “bump” into one another, I didn’t mean to “bump” you into oncoming traffic)
It’s more for the thousands of family members, parents who’ve lost their teens, sisters who lost brothers, friends who lost their best friend, people who grew up with addiction…..FOR THEM, I’m asking @KitsonLA to remove these shirts immediately.
As @terilynnbrown said….”Glamorizing prescription drugs isn’t fashionable. It’s sick.””
That’s it.
If anyone would like to buy a tshirt that will actually SAVE kid’s lives, please go to www.booster.com/slam.
Thank you
KJo
For its part, Kitson claimed to “invite vigorous dialogue” over the issue, as did designer Brian Lichtenberg, who wrote that the T-shirts could “open the door to a much needed dialogue” on prescription drug abuse.
@kjothesmartass We appreciate Ms. Johnston removing her tweet as we are unfamiliar with her personally and (cont) http://t.co/ekqcGzTSQQ
— Kitson (@KitsonLA) August 29, 2013
We appreciate Ms. Johnston removing her tweet as we are unfamiliar with her personally and did not want to assume she was joking. We wish to remind her that we only claimed we would contact the authorities, but never threatened legal action. In today’s climate it is prudent to be cautious about all perceived threats. We invite vigurous dialogue and would welcome Ms. Johnston to Kitson for a book signing for “Guts” if she should wish.
https://twitter.com/jynyates/status/373234600484810753
More bullshit? Shut up already @KitsonLA. Everyone knows @kjothesmartass, stop fronting.
— Carly (@prettyplusmore) August 30, 2013
@prettyplusmore @KitsonLA @kjothesmartass that's not helping kitson…not helping.
— Michelle (@shellipep) August 30, 2013
https://twitter.com/TexasBeth2/status/373234717144784896
That’s the other wrinkle in the story. It seems the pharmaceutical companies weren’t thrilled to learn that their trademarks were being used without permission and threatened legal action.
If you take the shirts off your shelves, @KitsonLA, I will happily meet, chat, whatever. Until then, there's nothing to discuss.
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) August 30, 2013
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