PacSunUPDATE: PacSun is responding to customer complaints about the T-shirt.
"As a retailer grounded in youth culture, PacSun values artistic and creative expression through the brands that we sell in our stores," the company said in a statement to E! News. "Out of respect for those who have put their lives on the line for our country, we have decided to stop selling the licensed flag t-shirt and are removing it from our stores and website immediately. We thank the men and women in uniform for their extraordinary service."
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PacSun is not feeling the love this Memorial Day weekend.
The popular clothing store is facing some backlash from several customers after a shopper spotted a T-shirt for sale that featured an upside-down American flag.
"I saw this at your location at Tanger Outlets this morning in Foley, Alabama," shopper Rachel Zawacki-Kuss wrote on the company's Facebook page. "I understand freedom of speech but this shirt, displayed prominently at the entrance of your store, for Memorial Day weekend is more distasteful and disrespectful than anything I thought I'd see."
She added, "I will not be shopping at PacSun again." In less than two days, the original photo has been shared more than 6,000 times and has received support from many shoppers.
E! News has reached out to PacSun for comment. An employee at the Tanger Outlets confirmed to the New York Daily News that the shirt has since been removed from their specific store.
According to the US Code of Laws, "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property."
The T-shirt, which is designed by A$AP Worldwide, was still available on the company's website for purchase Monday afternoon. Priced at $23.95, the shirt claims to bring "some serious style into your wardrobe."
Since my original post has garnered so much attention I'm going to make this post once, simply to state my opinion. My...
Posted by Rachel Zawacki-Kuss on Sunday, May 24, 2015
After generating so much publicity, Rachel headed to Facebook once again to clarify her intention with the post. Turns out she has no regrets about sharing her honest opinion.
"My point in posting the picture I had taken, and writing what I did, was to bring to the company's attention that during a holiday weekend intended to honor military members who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, it was not the ideal time to bring that shirt front and center," she wrote. "The American Flag is a symbol of freedom that they fought and died for. Seeing the flag used that way was incredibly upsetting to me. THAT IS ALL I WAS SAYING."
She added, "It's my choice to shop elsewhere. The display was in bad taste, it was disrespectful and insensitive to the sacrifices that have been made by so many service members."
—Reporting by Holly Passalaqua