Chicago Stronger T-Shirts Stir Up Controversy

Remember when the Bruins were taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs and someone in Toronto had a sign that said "Toronto Stronger"?

Well, the take off on the "Boston Strong" slogan, which of course took off after the Boston Marathon Bombing has come forth again, this time from a t-shirt company called "Cubby Tees" based in, you guessed it, Chicago!

They wanted to sell t-shirts that say "Chicago Stronger" with  the logo of the Chicago Blackhawks who are currently in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins.As you can expect, they got serious backlash from the shirts being printed, and took a beating on Twitter. The company then pulled the shirts from their website, but are protesting the "Twitter Lynching" that they got.  Isn't there a line that is being crossed here?

The slogan "Boston Strong"  isn't about sports, its about a community coming together in the wake of a horrific event. Why would they be surprised that it wouldn't go over well?

Here is a statement from Cubby Tees in response to the backlash:

Anyone who believes that the shirt mocked those injured in the horrible events of Patriots’ Day regrettably missed our point and did not read/process our accompanying commentary; nowhere on the shirt’s face (or within its subtext or motivation) did we take aim at the victims or make light of the incident -- nor would we ever. The design poked fun at the embarrassing self-congratulatory branding of the tragedy, and its inappropriate adoption by SOME BOSTON FANS AS A MINIMIZING SPORTS ANTHEM, not the sad reality of that day’s mayhem.

Our hearts go out to all of those touched by the 3 fatalities and 30 serious injuries from that crime. This is not a recalcitrant statement motivated by your Tweets: like the rest of the world, we said (and felt) this right from the beginning. We love Boston, we love Bostonians. There was nothing in this shirt intended to trivialize the real losses; the design was based on the puzzling creation of a “Boston Strong” slogan in the first place, and then the use of that banner for the glory of New England pro teams.