An Irish American is taking on global giant Walmart to try and break the ‘drunken Irish’ stereotype.
Kevin Westley considers it offensive to suggest that Irish people drink too much alcohol and like getting drunk all the time. He objects to Walmart’s St Patrick’s Day T-shirts, which he says reinforce that stereotype.
He has accused the supermarket of ‘cashing in on the stereotype’ and has spent hundreds of dollars buying up all of the St Patrick’s Day T-shirts from his local store to take them out of circulation. Westley says he intends to return them all on the 18th March and get his money back, just like he did last year.
Westley is of Irish heritage and says that he is extremely proud of his roots. The Long Island man has encouraged others to follow his lead.
He spoke to CBS New York and told them: “To me it implies that St Patrick’s Day is all about drinking and the Irish culture is all about drinking.”
However, he does admit that getting others to take his stance has not been easy, with some of his own friends telling him he need to “get a life” and “get a sense of humour”.
Watch the CBS news report.