Pop culture T-shirts under fire

A Chinese online fashion retailer is being probed for using Premier Wen Jiabao's popularity to promote T-shirts - an act that may violate the country's law on advertisement, Beijing commerce authorities said.

Vancl stirred up controversy on Tuesday by advertising a new series of T-shirts with Premier Wen's quotations.

Some were picked from the 70-year-old premier's emotional press finale this March, when he addressed the press after the conclusion of the annual National People's Congress.

The series of T-shirts is named "Look Up At the Starry Sky," the title of a poem written by Wen in 2007, and the web page used photos of him waving to journalists.

The products were removed from sale only hours after their appearance, because many shoppers complained.

"Vancl's online advertisement is suspected of violating the Advertisement Law, which stipulates an advertisement shall not involve using the names of State organs or their functionaries," a spokesman from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industry and Commerce said.