Amazon Pulls 'Keep Calm and Rape' T-Shirts Amid Outcry

"Keep Calm and Rape a Lot" is apparently not a message Amazon wants to endorse. The online mega-retailer has deleted several T-shirts made by the US clothing company Solid Gold Bomb, all carrying similar messages of violence against women, the Guardian reports. But the Massachusetts-based T-shirt maker refused to take full responsibility, saying an algorithm generated the messages with "a scripted computer process."

Still, Solid Gold Bomb shut down its social media accounts yesterday after receiving death threats and messages that "Rape is not a joke." The company posted a quasi-apology—blaming its computer program but accepting "responsibility for the error"—and said it was trying to remove the offensive products. But some remained, including "Keep Calm and Knife Her" and "Keep Calm and Punch Her." The phrase is based on a "Keep Calm and Carry On" World War II poster. (More t-shirts stories.)