TuffyPacks

A Houston-based manufacturer of backpacks, called TuffyPacks, has removed its themed products from its website after Disney said in a statement that the use of Disney characters was not authorized and should stop being used to “promote sales of their merchandise.”

A spokesperson for TuffyPacks told TheWrap that the items will be removed while they review their options for the themed products, but that he had no further comment.

TuffyPacks was selling backpack inserts that retail for $129, designed to fit into school backpacks and smaller day backpacks to protect yourself from multiple rounds of handgun fire. The designs featured Disney princesses, the Avengers and Harry Potter. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. told TheWrap: “These are not official ‘Harry Potter’ products, and are in no way endorsed, licensed or in any other way supported, directly or indirectly, by Warner Bros.”

Also Read: How Disney Blockbusters Boost a Fizzling 3D Format

“None of these products were authorized by Disney, and we are demanding that those behind this stop using our characters or our other intellectual property to promote sales of their merchandise,” a spokesperson for Disney said in a statement to TheWrap.

The website features the disclaimer, “This product is not associated with the original copyright owner,” and TuffyPack’s founder and CEO Steve Naremore told the outlet that the company never asked Disney for support, but that demand for sales have spiked, adding that sales increase between 300 and 500 percent after a mass shooting.

Also Read: Disney Continues Layoffs With Key Production, VFX Executives Let Go

While the new designs were rolled out a month ago, they coincide with two mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which left 31 dead.

According to the New York Times, demand for these bulletproof backpacks increased after the shooting in Parkland, Florida in February 2019. Earlier this year, another company called ArmorMe, started selling bulletproof backpacks that can unfold to cover larger areas. Guard Dog Security, another company, started selling bulletproof backpacks after the Sandy Hook shooting.

Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.
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Washington D.C. — A former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people on September 16, 2013, at a military facility. The gunman was killed.
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Tyrone, Mo. - On Feb. 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge killed seven people — four of them relatives — in a door-to-door shooting spree before killing himself.
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Waco, Tex. - Nine people were killed and many more were injured after two biker gangs began firing at each other at a motorcycle club on May 17, 2015.
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Charleston, S.C. - Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a racially motivated shooting in a predominantly African-American church on June 17, 2015.
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Chattanooga, Tenn. - A gunman named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez entered two military facilities on July 16, 2015, and killed four Marines and injured others, before he was killed.
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Umpqua, Ore. - On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured seven to nine more at Umpqua Community College before two police officers shot him. Mercer then committed suicide.
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San Bernardino, Calif. - 14 people were killed and another 21 injured after Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party on December 2, 2015. The pair were later killed during a shootout with police.
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Orlando, Fla. - 50 people were killed and 53 wounded on June 11, 2016, at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Just before the shooting, suspected killer Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terror group ISIS. Mateen was also shot an killed by police on the scene.
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TheWrap looks back at recent mass shootings that have happened on U.S. soil

Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.

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