Adidas Drops World Cup T-Shirts After Host Country Brazil Deems Them Too Sexy

(Adidas)

The country that put thong bikinis on the map would rather not put out the wrong message about its citizens during the 2014 World Cup. Brazil has nixed two graphic T-shirts from Adidas for being too suggestive, saying the country doesn’t want to promote sexual exploitation.

One shirt reads “I [heart] Brazil,” with a heart that looks like a female’s behind in a thong bikini flipped upside down, while the other read “Lookin’ to score” with a bikini-clad cartoon standing with a soccer ball.

“Sexual exploitation is an unacceptable crime and cannot be confused in any way with any kind of tourism. We want to make it clear to our major trading partners in tourism that Brazil does not tolerate this type of crime in its territory,” Flavio Dino, president of Brazil’s Tourism Agency, said in a statement (via CNN).

Adidas decided to pull the shirts from its website this week after the backlash, saying the company listens to what its customers and stakeholders want. Shoppers had also been complaining about the shirts, Adidas said.

“Having taken on board their feedback, we have made the decision to withdraw this product line,” a spokeswoman said, adding that the shirts were only available in the U.S. as part of a limited edition.

The FIFA tournament will be held in multiple Brazilian cities this year from June 12 to July 13.

You can follow MBQ on Twitter and see how little she knows about soccer come June: @marybethquirk

Adidas T-shirts too sexy for Brazil [CNNMoney]