Target Recalls Clothing With 88 -
“Heil Hitler” - Insignia

August 29, 2002

Target Corp. is recalling baseball caps and shorts from all of its stores after a California customer realized symbols printed on the clothing are a code for “Heil Hitler.”

The caps and shorts are imprinted with “eight eight” and ”88.” Among white supremacists, that stands for “Heil Hitler” because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

The Minneapolis-based chain Wednesday told all of its 1,100 stores to stop selling the clothing. A customer in Davis, California, alerted Target.

“Target apologizes for any discomfort that may have been caused by the baseball caps and shorts carrying the insignia 88,” the company said in a statement. “Target is a family oriented store and company and it is not our intent to carry any merchandise that promotes hate.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Target officials declined to comment on whether the clothing came from a branded manufacturer or from their own store label line.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-targetrecall0829.story?coll=ny%2Dbusiness%2Dheadlines