Ethical Issue: Los Angeles–based clothing company Barabas seized the moment after Sean Penn’s notorious Rolling Stone interview with brutal Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán. The clothier used the name and likeness of the drug lord on its website, flanked by photos of attractive male models wearing the same distinctive cotton shirts of the Fantasy and Crazy Paisley lines. The all-caps announcement read: “EL CHAPO GUZMAN WEARING BARABAS SHIRT!”73 The Internet exploded with astonishment and bafflement after Penn’s interview with the crime boss. Barabas’ excitement about its infamous customer also met with criticism, but the company couldn’t keep the $128 shirts on the shelves.74 At one point Internet traffic crashed the Barabas website.

Yet public outrage ultimately prompted the clothier to remove overt references to El Chapo and his photos.

However, if one types El Chapo into the search window on the main page of the Barabas site, the shirts pop right up. Is it ethical to resort to such extreme means to drive sales?