Perhaps it's only meant to be read by them French speaking people in the world - or perhaps these versions are only sold in Europe? In any case Tom Bihn the bullet-proof and even bomb-proof versatile bag maker doesn't like the president too much, as on the inside label it reads, in French:
"Nous sommes desoles que notre President soit un idiot. Nous n'avons pas vote pour lui."
Which roughly translates to: "We apologize our President is an idiot. We didn't vote for him."
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Is Tom's full name Bihn Laden?
Reprinted from local NBC news in Seattle:
Bush-bashing finds its way into bags
By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News
SEATTLE
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Permalinkheh, I thought it was rather funny prank - so much so I might grab one of those laptop bags that keep an egg safe when the bag is dropped while that sneaky label lasts... - (found via The news section at Tom Bihn).
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PermalinkRight, on The TomBihn site the news & events page explains:
Because Tom Bihn products are sold into Canada, the care instructions are in English and French. It was discovered this week that the French translation continues after the washing instructions to read: "NOUS SOMMES DESOLES QUE NOTRE PRESIDENT SOIT UN IDIOT. NOUS N'AVONS PAS VOTE POUR LUI." Translated, the message reads, "'We are sorry that our president is an idiot. We didn't vote for him.'"
Apparently, the message began as an inside joke among seamstresses and staff at the Tom Bihn factory, intended to poke fun at company's founder and president, Tom Bihn, who recently incorporated the company and was elected its president. Tom Bihn, the President of TOM BIHN INC., has issued the following statement:
"I am terribly sorry that this inside joke has been misconstrued to be a slur on any other president. The joke is on me, and I think it's funny."
I'm not very good at French at all, but to me it sounds very strange that there's no difference between the words "President" (Of a country) and a "President" (Of a company), I thought that was an English thing. Can any french speakers help us out here, Canucks in particular? Also on Tom Bihns site the pres is listed as: Pr
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PermalinkI think it is. And it must be working as when it was posted to Metafilter here earlier today about half the thread yelled "seen it". Amusing. So it was probably everywhere on the web, perhaps a stunt that paid off? In the forums there some people can't take the joke - and didn't you get a little scolded for posting this?
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PermalinkThis is currently being regurgitated - or going it's second round around the web.
Snopes is on the case now (10 June) as well, and someone has emailed Snopes to point out that there are other T-shirts with a similar idea out there since 2003, namely the American apology shirt.
Bihn also has T-shirts with the by now infamous tag printed on it.
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