PacSun upside-down flag T upsets Memorial Day shoppers

Carly Mallenbaum | USA TODAY

On Memorial Day, plenty of shoppers are talking about PacSun…

but not because of the clothing store's big sales.

Angry customers are commenting on the retailer's Facebook page and calling in complaints to the company, because of one T-shirt for sale that features a "disrespectful" upside-down American flag.

Here are a few of the many posts on a PacSun Facebook post about a BOGO sale:

Some shoppers are calling PacSun "disgusting" and "insulting," because an upside-down flag is an unofficial signal of distress. As members of the military know, flags are only meant to be flown this way "in instances of extreme danger to life or property," according to the U.S. Flag Code.

The T-shirt was apparently designed in a collaboration with rapper A$AP Rocky, and is still available online. Here are reviews about the T on PacSun's site:

A$AP Rocky has another PacSun flag T-shirt for sale, but this one has the union up.

Calls to PacSun corporate were not returned on Memorial Day, so it's unclear whether the shirt was accidentally printed upside-down, purposefully designed as a political statement, or neither. Customer service representatives for PacSun said that they've received several complaints about the shirt, and that PacSun is looking to issue a statement on the topic soon.



