Urban Outfitters ‘in process of removing’ cue cards on how to swear in sign language

The retailer Urban Outfitters has confirmed it is removing a product titled How to F***ing Swear in Sign Language from sale in its stores and online following complaints from the Deaf community.

The collection of cue cards, which claim to offer “amazing ways to insult people without saying a word”, has been branded “offensive” by Deaf people online.

Product images available on The Toy Kings website show cards teaching signs such as “p*** off” and “motherf*****”.

Content creator Immy Nunn, who has more than 647,000 followers on TikTok, said in a video posted in May: “I’m actually disgusted.”

Speaking to a staff member at their Brighton store, Immy added: “I know it’s not your fault to be selling these but I just want to say this is really offensive to the Deaf community.”

The manager can then be heard confirming the cards would be put to one side with the concerns escalated to their superiors.

@deafimmy

Not @Urban Outfitters disrespecting our culture. Saw from @louise may #culturalappropriation #deaf #fyp #deaf

♬ original sound – Deaf Immy

Immy later shared a follow-up video in which she shared a message from Urban Outfitters sent last Monday.

The full DM, seen by The Limping Chicken, reads: “It’s never our intention to cause any offence with our products so we’re in the process of removing all copies of this book from Urban Outfitters stores and online across EU.

“We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment and we’re always keen to learn and understand how we can do better.

“We welcome feedback from the UO community and thank you for raising this concern.”

Responding to a request for comment on Monday, a spokesperson for Urban Outfitters told The Limping Chicken: “I can confirm that all books are in the process of being removed from all stores across Europe and have been removed from online.”

They were unable to comment on the buying decisions behind the product.

Photo: @deafimmy/TikTok.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.