American Eagle Apologizes for Ganesha Sandals

May 1, 2003 - In April 2003 American Eagle Outfitters in USA introduced flip-flops (Sandals) with images of Lord Ganesha as one of their summer products.

Displaying a picture of a Hindu god on a footwear caused major outrage among various sectios of the Indian community in North America. IndiaCause, a local group of activists launched a protest with the Management of American Eagle Outfitters.

On 29 April, 2003 American Eagle Management responded positively to IndiaCause protest and sent a formal apology. In his letter, Neil Bulman, Jr. (Vice President and General Counsel, AE) wrote, "Please accept this letter as our formal apology for our use of the image resembling the Lord Ganesh on this product". He further assured "we will remove these flip-flop shoes from our stores"....

American Eagle Outfitters, a NASDAQ listed company operates about 750 American Eagle stores in the USA and Canada.