Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

 "It's a choice to follow freedom, returning to the wild and keeping up with the fashion trends." "For the freedom and courage, you're worth it!" These might sound like slogans for an outdoor activity equipment, but they were in fact used to advertise some T-shirts, in the style worn by an escaped convict by some online stores in China.

Gao Yulun, the last of three inmates who recently killed a guard on duty and escaped from a detention center in Heilongjiang Province, was finally recaptured by police after being on the run for 10 days. Before this prison break, Gao had been sentenced to death for murder.

Gao was wearing a green T-shirt when he was seized. Soon after the capture, green T-shirts similar to the one worn by Gao was put on sale on Taobao, China's popular e-commerce website. More than 10 online shops advertised the garments as their flagship products.

It's astonishing that a jail break of murderers has been hailed as a sign of chasing freedom. Online retailers have to work out novel marketing ideas to boost sales. But they shouldn't cross the bottom line of morality.

It's not the first time that this sort of publicity stunt has appeared on Taobao. Taiwanese actor Ko Kai, also known as Ko Chen-tung, was detained on drug charges in August. Soon after he was shown on CCTV wearing a prisoner uniform to apologize to fans and family, similar outfits were sold by more than 50 shops on Taobao. "The style of Ko Chen-tung's detention clothes" was hyped as a new fashion.

Why have the clothes worn by lawbreakers become fashion terms? Is that because the Chinese society has become open enough that we can tolerate crime? The answer is apparently "no."

I doubt whether selling prisoner-styled clothes could truly bring benefits to those retailers.

It was reported that some did buy the same style as Ko's detention clothes. And advertising clothes in the same style as Gao's escaping garment did help increase the visits of the online stores.

But whether there would be any deal reached is unknown, and after media exposure, some online stores have begun to remove the prison-breaking garments from their websites.

Nonetheless, a worrying trend is that every time when a lawbreaking case becomes a nationwide concern, there are some sympathetic voices among the public demanding leniency for the criminals.

After Gao was recaptured, some netizens showed their sympathy toward Gao, claiming this inmate was "not easy." Gao was reportedly recaptured in the house of one of his relatives, where he fled for food. His relative reported this to the police. Some even criticized the relative as a "traitor."

And when Ko was detained on the charges of drug abuse, many fans also came out to ask leniency on him on the Internet, saying that Ko should be forgiven due to his ignorance as a young person.

Perhaps it's such irrational compassion that makes the online retailers bet on commercial opportunities. Of course, the online shoppers should be criticized due to a lack of morality. But where there is demand there will be a supply. To prevent such crime and prisoner-related commerce needs a "zero-tolerance" attitude toward illegal activities by the whole society.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. yujincui@globaltimes.com.cn