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Harris Tweed Responds to Release of Lockerbie Bomber in Scotland

Tuesday 22nd of September 2009 11:02:49 PM

Sometimes fashion and politics cross and when that happens it can be disconcerting. For example, in London the company Harris Tweed decided to remove all references to Scotland in its US marketing campaign because of the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The bomber, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison because he is dying with terminal cancer. He was convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane that killed hundreds of which many were Americans.

Harris Tweed is a seller of fine tweeds and a number of accessories for men and women. Trousers, shorts, dresses, shawls, underwear and many other items of high quality are sold around the world. The tweed fashions go well with sweaters, t-shirts and hoodies.

Harris Tweed became concerned the company’s products would be boycotted by US consumers after some customers asked a San Francisco store selling Scottish products about Scotland’s decision to release the bomber. Approximately 10 percent of the company’s sales are generated in the US.

The Chairman of Harris Tweed was quoted as saying, “We are not going to promote ourselves as a Scottish company as we would previously had done. From everyone we spoke to in the US, the feeling came back that a serious mistake had been made in releasing Megrahi. It really wasn’t seen as a British decision in the media there, but a Scottish one. We have had to de-Scottishfy the image of the brand.” The company has decided to use neutral images in its advertisements and avoid all references to Scotland or use of Scottish images.

(c) Image by Scott Liddell, www.sxc.hu

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