Nov. 13--While Target is holding fast with its decision to market a controversial Christmas sweater, Nordstrom has buckled under the weight of social media criticism, pulling a potentially offensive Hanukkah version from its ugly holiday sweater lineup.
The festive blue women's sweater by Faux Real features a large menorah and the words "Chai Maintenance" across the chest. The Hebrew word for life, chai is pronounced "high." The characterization unleashed a flood of negative comments on Nordstrom's Facebook page.
"I'm very disturbed by this sweater and the negative stereotype of Jewish women," said one poster, calling it anti-Semitic.
Another expressed disappointment that Nordstrom would sell such a "degrading" item that makes fun of Jewish women.
Responding to the Facebook firestorm, Nordstrom stopped selling the sweater this week, the company said Friday.
"We made a mistake by not looking more closely at the words on the sweater before we posted it -- had we done so, we wouldn't have offered it," said Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow. "As soon as we heard from customers, we removed it from our site right away. We're terribly sorry for offending people and sincerely apologize."
As of Friday, images of the sweater are gone from the website and the product is listed as not available.
Target has been similarly panned on social media for its "OCD -- Obsessive Christmas Disorder" Christmas sweater, which some believe trivializes mental health issues. A Target spokeswoman apologized Wednesday for the sweater but said the retailer plans to keep selling it.
rchannick@tribpub.com
