{"id":323800,"date":"2026-03-11T08:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/323800\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:05:08","slug":"deadpool-shirt-with-maori-style-tattoo-designs-at-walmart-sparks-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/323800\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadpool shirt with M\u0101ori-style tattoo designs at Walmart sparks backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
The shirt’s design has been condemned as cultural appropriation. Photo \/ Walmart<\/p>\n
M\u0101ori culture, art and tattoo designs have a long history of appropriation.<\/p>\n
In 2007 the fashion house Jean-Paul Gaultier drew moko kauae on their model\u2019s faces while advertising their latest collection. In 2021 a baby products company called Haakaa apologised for causing offence for misspelling the word haka and using a t\u0101 moko in its logo. And in 2022 social media users started using \u201cM\u0101ori Mask\u201d filters to give them t\u0101 moko. <\/p>\n
But cultural appropriation can be complex. <\/p>\n
Just last week, Argentinian Uber driver Diego Acu\u00f1a made headlines in New Zealand for wearing a mataora.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I\u2019m Argentinian. I live in Patagonia, but my soul and body live as a M\u0101ori,\u201c Acu\u00f1a told the Herald.<\/p>\n
The face of Argentinian Uber driver Diego Martin Acu\u00f1a. “I wear this with pride and honour,” he said. Photo composite \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
In this case, community advocate, cultural adviser and T\u016bhoe kaum\u0101tua Rangi McLean said that in his younger years, he would have viewed the tattoo as cultural theft. His perspective has shifted after meeting indigenous communities through his travels.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what I can see, his mataora has been done with purpose and good intent by a highly skilled practitioner,\u201d McLean said.<\/p>\n
Johnson McKay, head of culture and strategy at M\u0101ori consultancy Ira, said it is about respect.<\/p>\n
McKay (Ng\u0101ti Rongomaiwahine, Ng\u0101ti Porou, Ng\u0101ti Awa, Ng\u0101ti Mahuta), told Stuff the Deadpool shirt was an \u201cinsulting example of cultural appropriation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cT\u0101 moko is an art form that has always been treated with the highest standard of respect by M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe head, where the mataora is applied, is the most sacred part of the body.<\/p>\n
\u201cAssociating these spiritual and cultural art forms with Deadpool seems incongruous,\u201d McKay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also, the forms themselves are not done with the level of skill required to uphold the mana of this artform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walmart Canada, Marvel and Disney have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shirt’s design has been condemned as cultural appropriation. Photo \/ Walmart M\u0101ori culture, art and tattoo designs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,1975,8172,1558,6005,8459,43770,174728,111,139,69,16348,174727,18556,28702,8214,8207,213,9636,50604,67085,3316,102],"class_list":["post-323800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-at","tag-backlash","tag-been","tag-deadpool","tag-designs","tag-moko","tag-moristyle","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-outrage","tag-shirt","tag-shopper","tag-similar","tag-sparked","tag-sparks","tag-sports","tag-spotted","tag-tattoo","tag-tshirt","tag-walmart","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}