Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Catholic Archdiocese of Manila has launched a marketing campaign aimed at reminding Filipinos of the 7th Commandment.

The Archdiocese has mass-produced t-shirts bearing the words, “Huwag kang magnakaw!” (Thou Shall Not Steal), hoping that the shirts would have the power to eradicate the culture of greed and thievery among Filipinos. Father Nonong Fajardo said that out of The 10 Commandments, the archdiocese chose to highlight the 7th Commandment because it seemed that stealing had become “normal” to many Filipinos, especially among elected officials.

The shirts cost P150 each and the proceeds from the sale will be used for forums and programs discussing the issue of stealing.

Today, several truckloads of the special t-shirts were stolen by armed thieves as the shipment was being transported from the printing press to the archdiocese’s warehouse at Adamson University in Manila. The thieves ran away with 1.5 Million pesos worth of t-shirts.

A classic case of  a message gone awry.