Disney Kills Joy Division Mickey Tee

What would YOUR parents say if you came home wearing an iconic design linked to a nihilistic musician who hanged himself, kids?


By Fred Mills


Earlier this week a marketing kerfluffle kicked in when word got out about a Joy Division-inspired teeshirt being sold by Disney - the singular "Unknown Pleasures" LP sleeve art was adapted into the shape of Mikckey Mouse's head, as you can see above - although that's not specifically how the sales blurb went:


"Inspired by the iconic sleeve of Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' album, this Waves Mickey Mouse Tee incorporates Mickey's image within the graphic of the pulse of a star. That's appropriate given few stars have made bigger waves than Mickey!"


Billboard reports that Disney had now halted sales of the shirt, with a representative telling reporters that "As soon as we became aware there could be an issue, we pulled it from our shelves and our online store to review the situation further."


Erstwhile bassist Peter Hook weighed in, telling the Los Angeles Times. "I take it as a compliment. If I had a pound for every time someone bootlegged Joy Division, I'd be as rich as Disney. But it's interesting in a kitsch way. It's this cross between something very adult and this well-known image of childhood."


At presstime the shirt was doing hot action at eBay: At least one shirt, like this one , is already fetching bits topping 200 bucks.

UPDATE: It's currently reached $255 in the bidding.