Urban OutfittersSeriously? No one, not one Urban Outfitters employee from finding/making this sweatshirt allllll the way to posting it on the site stopped and said: "Hey, you know what? This red paint looks like blood. And Kent State had a shooting back in 1970 that left many people hurt or dead. Maybe this will be seen as tasteless."
Urban Outfitters, it might be time to rethink the people you have over there. Because the fact that as soon as this sweatshirt was seen online, it immediately set the Internet on fire should tell you that somebody should have flagged this so long before it hit the website.
So here's the story. Urban Outfitters posted this "vintage" Kent State sweatshirt on their website for the high, high price of $130 bucks. The description read: "Washed soft and perfectly broken in, this vintage Kent State sweatshirt is cut in a loose, slouchy fit. Excellent vintage condition. We only have one, so get it or regret it!"
Personally, we don't regret not owning an insultingly overpriced "vintage" sweatshirt covered in what appears to be bloodstains. But we bet that Urban Outfitters certainly regrets this whole sale.
In May of 1970, four students were killed at Kent State and nine people were wounded after the National Guard open fired on students protesting the Vietnam War. So Urban Outfitters selling this Kent State sweatshirt covered in "faux" blood stains is about as offensive and obtuse as you can get.
The company has since apologized via its Twitter account, and they insisted that the stains were not meant to represent blood:
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.
Somebody did buy the sweatshirt before it was removed, and as People noted, it was soon after seen on eBay for much higher than it's original price, because that is the world we live in, guys.
Kent State released a statement as well, blasting the company for using their tragedy for "publicity and profit" and inviting Urban Outfitters to tour their memorial of the 1970 shooting:
May 4, 1970, was a watershed moment for the country and especially the Kent State family. We lost four students that day while nine others were wounded and countless others were changed forever. We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit. This item is beyond poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still hurts the Kent State community today. We invite the leaders of this company as well as anyone who invested in this item to tour our May 4 Visitors Center, which opened two years ago, to gain perspective on what happened 44 years ago and apply its meaning to the future.
This is not the first time Urban Outfitters has been criticized for their offensive inventory, and we bet their entire collection of marked-up "vintage" items that it will not be the last.