Urban Outfitters: Douche of the Year

On May 4^th 1970, a protest against the Vietnam War took place at Kent University in Ohio. Things took a lethal turn when armed members of the Ohio National Guard began to open fire at a group of unarmed students. Nine students were injured and four dead, two of which were just walking to class. This horrific scene was deemed the Kent State massacre. 44 years later it only makes sense to capitalize on this terrible experience and poke fun at it right? That must have been what Urban Outfitters thought when they released their “Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt”.

The sweatshirt is distressed with red paint splattered on it resembling blood and holes in the shoulder. People took to twitter to express their outrage, people are pissed. Urban Outfitters went to twitter with their response saying,

“Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such. The one-of-a-kind item was purchased as part of our sun-faded vintage collection. There is no blood on this shirt nor has this item been altered in any way. The red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray. Again, we deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively and we have removed it immediately from our website to avoid further upset.” 

 This statement came a little too late, the damage is already done. Not to mention people turning to social media to express their outrage, many news media sources and bloggers have wrote about the incident spreading the news like wildfire.

This sounds all too much like the incident when Urban Outfitters came out with a shirt that said “Eat Less” in big block letters across the chest. This shirt cause similar outrage. This is really stupid of Urban Outfitters. They really need to think things through more before they put products on their shelves and website. This stunt is extremely insensitive and a perfect example of terrible PR. Maybe UO needs to use their brains a bit more instead of always trying to be the most edgy clothing company in the business. I wish I could say I will no longer be shopping at Urban Outfitters but let’s be real, that sale section is irresistible.