(NEXSTAR) — New Era’s new line of “Local Market” baseball caps is leaving MLB fans scratching their hat-haired heads.
The line, launched on Tuesday, was apparently meant to celebrate the cities where all 30 MLB teams play, with each cap prominently featuring the team’s logo alongside an area code (or several) and a couple of arguably relevant images. But after backlash on social media, New Era appears to have removed the caps from its website entirely.
Just after the line’s launch, critics on Twitter took issue with New Era for including the wrong area codes on some of its caps. The hat produced for Kansas City Royals fans features numerous Kansas City area codes, but not one that covers where the Royals actually play, WDAF reports. The same goes for Tampa’s hat, which features the 803 area code but not the 727 code assigned to the area where the Rays’ stadium is located, WFLA noted.
Social media users on Twitter also called out the images chosen to represent each city, which included local landmarks, flags, foodstuffs, and even — in Atlanta’s case — a UFO.
“For the first time in history, everyone on Twitter agrees; those new New Era caps are, in fact, ugly as hell,” one Twitter user joked.
Another user theorized that New Era’s design team “literally never gets to leave the building, doesn’t have internet access, and were forced to imagine what each place might be like. Also, they really like clip art and area codes.”
New Era has not publicly commented on the reaction to its Local Market hats following their debut. The items were no longer available for sale on the brand’s website as of Tuesday night, ESPN reported.
New Era is currently the exclusive supplier of on-field caps for the MLB. The company also holds over 500 licenses to produce caps featuring the logos of teams in both the NBA and NFL, as well as imagery from music, movies and TV.
