Aape T-Shirt Has A Font Problem That Ends Up Reading As Offensive Slogan
Image via lentamart / Shutterstock.com
Some merchandise won’t sell because of the price, but most of the time, it’s because the designs aren’t to customers’ liking. Aape, a label under Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape, has a t-shirt that falls under both camps.
The Aape Ape Universe Tee, available on menswear shopping site END., is priced at US$105. While street fashion enthusiasts would pay that amount for the logo, the branding rubs people the wrong way due to the way “Aape” is being stylized.
The garment, spotted by tech and lifestyle journalist Holly Brockwell, is meant to read, “Aape universe,” but the capital ‘A’ appears more like an ‘R’ at first glance.
“Excuse me… you might want to RECONSIDER THAT FONT,” Brockwell wrote. “Yes, they really are charging £89 for a t-shirt that says ‘RAPE UNIVERSE’ across the front.”
The misunderstanding might arise from the serif on the left, or the unusual pairing of an enlarged bolded capital ‘A’ next to a small ‘A,’ or that the other letters are encased between horizontal lines while the capital ‘A’ is separated from the rest—the branding doesn’t read as “Aape” right away.
What’s strange is that this isn’t the first time Aape has been called out for the use of an inappropriate font. A campaign it launched with Pepsi back in 2013 also gave off the wrong impression.
Excuse me @endclothing @AAPE_OFFICIAL you might want to RECONSIDER THAT FONT pic.twitter.com/2mFGujNk54
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 4, 2020
Link: https://t.co/RLtrKJpTYw
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 4, 2020
Image via END.
Image via END.
And the winner of worst possible choice of font on a poster EVER is... (via imgur) pic.twitter.com/j8sgMhAis2
— The Poke (@ThePoke) September 23, 2013
[via Holly Brockwell, images via various sources]
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