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Urge Moosejaw to Apologize for its 'JAIL' Campaign
  1. Signatures
    314 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Harvey Kanter
  2. Created By
    Matt Kelley
    New Haven, CT
About this Petition Petition Letter

A marketing campaign by outdoor gear retailer Moosejaw treats incarceration as a joke. Write to the company below to urge them to immediately pull the ad campaign and apologize for this offensive and destructive campaign.

The store's new ad campaign, called "JAIL," includes pictures of models wearing fleece jackets in prison, and includes an absurd and offensive "Jail Activity Book," including joke games like a "don't get shanked in the shower maze."

The new catalog wonders why so few Moosejaw customers have done time, and jokes that this is "unacceptable." It offers joke greeting cards "in an effort to assist human people doing time in the joint" saying things like "You've been here 25 years, Happy Anniversary." It has a joke "letters to the warden" section.

The campaign pokes fun at human rights abuses and perpetuates the dangerous stereotypes that keep our prisons overcrowded and keep ex-prisoners from getting services and jobs.

If you agree, please customize the letter below to tell the company why you think this campaign is offensive.

Recent Signatures

Please End the 'JAIL' Campaign

Dear Mr. Kanter,

I’m writing to express my dismay over your recent “JAIL” catalog and advertising campaign. I understand that the catalog was intended to be funny and offbeat; instead it is deeply offensive to the 2.2 million prisoners in the United States and their families and communities.

Our nation’s incarceration policies destroy lives and communities, but your company has decided to make jail a joke. Perhaps this campaign seemed like a sound business strategy because “too few Moosejaw customer have done time” so it wouldn’t affect your customer base. But good, responsible business should never be based on denigrating and humiliating entire communities, especially when those are disadvantaged communities.

Not everyone in prison deserves to be there, but even those that do deserve their sentences also deserve basic human rights. Your catalog makes light of prison assault and reinforces negative stereotypes about prison conditions. It is a dangerous and destructive campaign.
I strongly urge you to issue a public apology for running this offensive campaign and end all advertising that includes the ‘Jail’ imagery and messaging immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

[Your name]

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