Urban Outfitters is selling faux-vintage “blood-splattered” Kent State sweatshirts, referencing the 1970 shooting that left four dead. (Random fun fact: My grandmother was Dean of Women’s Colleges at Kent State at the time!). Kent State, predictably, found the gimmicky item to be in EXTREMELY poor taste. A University spokesperson responded saying:
“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 year ago, to gain perspective on what happened 44 years ago and apply its meaning to the future.”
Urban Outfitters later responded with the following COMPLETELY BULLSHIT statement:
“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.”
“SUNFADED,” MY GRANNY’S BLOODSTAINED ASS. HOW DARE THEY. IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE TASTELESS, AT LEAST HAVE THE BALLS TO STAND BY WHAT YOUR DOING. DON’T HAND ME A TURD AND CALL IT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE. YOU DID THIS FOR ATTENTION. YOU GOT THE ATTENTION, AND NOW YOU’RE BACKING AWAY FROM IT. WHAT ASSHOLES. THIS MAKES ME HATE URBAN OUTFITTERS MORE THAN I ALREADY DID. IF SUCH A THING WAS POSSIBLE.
