Every so often, I revisit old stories that seemingly have faded away to nothing, because it is interesting to see if they really did. An old story that I recently decided to 'track back' was the assertion that Richard C. Hoagland made some years ago to the effect that the Old Navy franchise had conspiratorial connections to secret societies with secret agendas. While rummaging around looking for the remnants of both the story itself and the reaction to it, I wound up finding the following bizarre bit of info at the Old Navy website:
Old Navy apparently markets a little long-sleeved t-shirt intended for baby boys (in particular, I might add-- the shirt was nowhere to be seen in the 'clothes for baby girls' section of the site) that goes by the name 'Old Navy Secret Society shirt'. It is currently offered as a sale item (marked down from $10.50 to $6.00), and with the assumption that it will probably not be on offer much longer, I grabbed the pic above and the following info regarding the shirt--
Secret Society Graphic Tees for Baby
Bring baby into the inner circle with our long-sleeve graphic tees. It's always best to be in the know.
#600536
While I have no opinion one way or another about Old Navy, I do find their sale of this shirt in the aftermath of Mr. Hoagland's assertions the weensiest bit odd. I'm sure that most folks will see it as a joke-cum-marketing-ploy designed to take advantage of the Hoagland claim, but I find it interesting that the shirt is being sold as a boys' clothing item in particular. That there is an overly strong sexist (and fetishist) vibe in American fashion retailing is a given, but it seems like weird overkill to extend the 'boys in the know, girls just for show' crap into the infant clothing market.
But then again, the upper echelons and inner circles of most secret organizations are not noted for an egalitarian attitude towards any human being packing a vagina.
At any rate, it was definitely interesting to find Old Navy marketing this little tidbit in the wake of Hoagland's comments, so I thought I'd post it. To quote the shirt, 'You can't dream if you don't sleep'-- I'm assuming that (the secret cabal) 'they' look at (Zeta) Z's as a good thing, meaning that folks ought to be sleeping like fashed toddlers and treating anything said about clandestine groups and their hidden agendas as a simplistic 'fashionista-giggle'. Oh, and of course, they also want you to be sure and buy the shirt for your favorite boy-type rug-rat...
Peace,
T'Zairis
