`Destroy Girls' Slogan Out Of Line, Stores Say

INDIANAPOLIS - A maker of in-line skating equipment thought it could attract aggressive young male buyers with a simple slogan: "Destroy all girls."

"The tag was supposed to say, `Kill your parents,' but some people thought that was too extreme. Go figure," said Arlo Eisenberg, part-owner of Senate, the clothing and equipment company that put the slogan on its clothing's laundry tags.

Eisenberg was being flip, and some in the business say Senate's sales pitch works wonders with the kids. But retailers and parents were not pleased when they spotted the slogan.

Galyan's Trading announced yesterday it sent back the fall line of T-shirts, sweatshirts, pants and boxer shorts made by the company in Huntington Beach, Calif.

"We will not have that in our stores. It's counter to the culture we have at Galyan's," said Joan Hurley, director of marketing for Galyan's in Plainfield, Ind.

Senate has gotten other complaints. As a result, it has decided not to include the tags on any new items. But it has no plans to voluntarily pull back the offending items.

"The stuff isn't literal. I don't expect anyone to go out and destroy all girls," Eisenberg said. "It's a niche market, so there's a lot of people who aren't going to get it."

Senate sold about $10 million in goods last year, primarily to teenage boys who skate aggressively, he said.

Eisenberg said he adopted the "destroy all girls" line from an alternative rock group called Scraping Fetus Off The Wheel.

Such aggressive tactics are to be expected from Senate, said Chris Wiggins, a salesman for Sitzmark, a sporting-goods store that stocks a large line of Senate merchandise.

"They basically market themselves toward young kids who are for the most part wise guys; they're belligerent," Wiggins said. "They want to align themselves with them, and it's worked very well."