Converse Inc. withdraw shoes having pictures of Hindu Deities

Bhadrapad Shuddha Chaturdashi, Kaliyug Varsha 5112

Converse Shoe Company apologises and commit to withdraw defamatory shoes

1) E-mail sent by a devout Hindu after apology by Converse Inc.

From: Dharmesh Vyas
Date: Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 3:47 PM
Subject: RE: Protest: Dharmesh Vyas
To: weborderinfo <[email protected]>

Dear Jessica,

Kindly advise.

1. Even person with less IQ will not prefer to have God on his footwear. Their is huge difference printing God on music album cover and footwear. This mistake is done with bad intention from your concern staff. Please take necessary actions against concerns.

2. What about product which you have already sold in market. If some one comes in front of us with our God on his footwear. How can we save our God from this big insult.

3. Please confirm destruction of unsold items.

I am sorry for following hard, but being Hindus I always respect Jesus and Church. In fact I have visited many church with equal respect to Jesus. Such act is really big blunder for such big brand like Converse.

Best Regards,
Dharmesh Vyas
Mumbai, India

2) Protest E-mail sent by Mr. Rawal

From: jayendra rawal
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 3:09 AM
To: weborderinfo; Estore
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Protest: Hindu Deities drawn on the shoes by Converse Shoes

To,
Converse Shoe Company

Converse Shoe Company has denigrated Hindu Deities by printing Hindu Gods and Hindu Goddess on the shoes. This is nothing but the grave insult of our beloved Hindu Deities. They should not be used in such defamatory way. It is duty of all we Hindus worldwide to protest lawfully against the Converse Shoes Company, so that they should remove such defamatory shoes from the market, they should not repeat such mistake in future and they should also apologise to all Hindus for hurting their religious sentiments.

Regards,
Mr.Jayendrasingh Tejendrasingh Rawal
Dist:Dhule(Maharashtra,INDIA)

Reply from Converse Shoes

From: weborderinfo <[email protected]>
To: jayendra rawal

Subject: RE: Protest: Hindu Deities drawn on the shoes by Converse Shoes

Dear Mr.Jayendrasingh Tejendrasingh Rawal,

“Converse designed the Converse Chuck Taylor Jimi Hendrix/Axis shoe to demonstrate our support of music culture and to celebrate the contributions of the global music icon, Jimi Hendrix. With approval of the Hendrix estate, we applied artwork taken directly from the 1967 “Axis: Bold as Love” album cover. The cover art included images of Hindu deities.

Our ambitions were to honor the music of Jimi Hendrix. It was not our intent to offend Hindu culture by having Hindu deities on footwear.

We apologize for the unintentional offense and have decided to immediately discontinue the sales of the Jimi Hendrix/Axis shoe on Converse.com”

Thank you,
Jessica
Converse.com
Customer Service

Defamatory shows by Converse Shoe Company

Hindu Goddess on the shoe

Hindu Gods on the shoe

Appeal to devout Hindus

Converse Shoe Company has denigrated Hindu Deities by printing Hindu Gods and Hindu Goddess on the shoes. This is nothing but the grave insult of our beloved Hindu Deities. They should not be used in such defamatory way. It is duty of all Hindus worldwide to protest lawfully against the Converse Shoes Company, so that they should remove such defamatory shoes from the market, they should not repeat such mistake in future and they should also apologise to all Hindus for hurting their religious sentiments.

Devout Hindus are protesting lawfully against Converse Shoes on following Contact details:

Converse Shoes
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]

Phone: +1 888 792-3307

Address:
Converse Inc
Attn : Marketing Dept.
One High Street
North Andover, MA 01845-2601

Converse Shoes in India

Corporate Address:
20North Online Private Limited,
No.2984 II Floor, 12th Main
HAL II Stage, Indiranagar
Bangalore 560038
INDIA
Ph : +91-80-42924000

Phone: +91-80-42924000 OR +91-80-42924009

E-mail: [email protected]

Details of Denigration

This denigration is reported to us by a devout Hindu through e-mail. The photos can also be seen on the following link:
www.hindu-blog.com

Protest letters sent by devout Hindus to Converse Shoes

1) Protest E-mail sent by S JayakumarFrom: Jayakumar S. Ammangudi
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 12:53:50 PM
Subject: Manufacture of Shoes with Hindu deities

TO:

Converse Inc.
Attn : Marketing Dept.
One High Street
North Andover, MA 01845-2601

Recently, I had become aware that Converse is selling sports shoes with colorful images of Hindu deities on the outside.

Hindu dieties are forms and most sacred representations of holistic ideals through which God is worshipped by all Hindus. In short Hindus look upon dieties as God Himself or Herself.

Thus, this latest episode of selling shoes with Hindu Religious images is viewed as a blatant denigration of Hinduism and is extremely hurtful to sentiments of Hindus all over the world.

It is puzzling to Hindus how reputed companies like Converse can appropriate images from Hinduism and other minority religions for profit. Will Converse print pictures of the Cross or Jesus Christ or Virgin Mary on their shoes? Will Converse print pictures of The Mohammed on their shoes and sports paraphernalia?

I am quite certain that it is not the intent of Converse to hurt sentiments of the citizens of this world, least of all victimize the adherents of a specific religion. I am sure this was an oversight and perhaps a case of an overenthusiastic marketing department.

Therefore, on behalf of the Billion-plus Hindus of this world, I request you to:

(1) Immediately stop the sale of these shoes all over the world.
(2) Destroy the manufactured shoes
(3) Stop future production of shoes of this nature.
(4) Include in your cultural sensitivity program the importance of respecting sentiments of other cultures and religions, regardless of how much of a minority they might be in this world.
(5) Issue and Publish a statement of apology.

I am confident that Converse management will address this matter with utmost urgency. I look forward to further word from you.

Regards,
S. Jayakumar
Houston, TX

2) Protest letter sent by Amit Kakri

Hello,

it has been reported that your Company is denigrating Hindu deities by selling shoes with pictures of Hindu Gods and Godesses.

If this is true, this represents the worst insult to our great and ancient hindu culture and way of life. As a devote hindu; I protest! Please stop this sale immediately.

regards,
Amit Kakri
Mumbai, India

Reply sent by 20 North Customer Support

From: 20North Customer Support <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Converse Shoes
To: “Amit Kakri”
Date: Tuesday, 21 September, 2010, 4:12 PM

Hi, Amit,

Thank you for writing in to 20North.

We apologize for any offense that any product advertised on our website may have caused you. We have blocked this item from being advertised or purchased on our online store.

Should you have any questions or require further assistance, please feel free to call on 080-42924000 (Mon -Fri ) (9:30 am- 6:30 pm) or mail us back.

Best,
Charmaine
Member Services
www.20North.com

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