Limited Brands apologises for floral bikini’s carrying the Buddha’s image
28 Jul, 2004 00:00:00
Limited Brands apologises for floral bikini’s carrying the Buddha’s image
Limited Brands Inc., the owners of the famous Victoria Secret brand has apologised for inadvertently offending Sri Lankans, particularly Buddhist, with their floral bikini depicting the image of the Buddha.
.The company has also ceased all sales of the product and removed the images of the swimsuits from their websites.
The apology comes in response to representation made by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC USA.
Last month, following representation made to the Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar by a delegation of Buddhist monks, the Ministry instructed all Sri Lanka Mission abroad to make representation in their countries of accreditation to remove the offending items from the market.
The Foreign Minister also convened a meeting of all the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of countries where large Buddhist population live.
Subsequently, Anthony Hebron, Vice President/External Communications of Limited Brands has written to Sri Lanka Ambassador in Washington expressing “sincere apologies” of Limited Brands and Victoria’s Secret.
The company has further stated that there was “no intention of showing any disrespect to Lord Buddha or Buddhism”.
The Vice President said the company which supplied the floral bikini design has also stopped selling the bikini from their catalogue, removed it from their website and issued an open apology.
Last month, Sri Lanka’s police and customs were ordered to seize Buddha Bar music and bikinis sporting Buddha images after the Supreme Court ordered a strict enforcement of laws prohibiting the use of religious symbols for commercial use.
The order was made after Buddhist monk Daranaagama Kusaladhamma petitioned the court to ban Victoria’s Secret bikinis with Buddha images, candles in the shape of the Buddha and Buddha Bar albums which carry pictures of the Buddha.
The monk told court that the commercial exploitation of the Buddha image had hurt the feelings of Buddhists who constitute nearly 70 percent of the island’s 19 million population.
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