On Urban Outfitters Selling A “Vintage” Kent State Sweatshirt

Urban Outfitters has never been known for staying within the limits of good taste. From t-shirts that say “Eat Less” (which isn’t really that offensive if you’re not, to borrow a phrase from Cher Horowitz, “a total heifer”) to board game knockoffs of Monopoly called Ghettopoly, the hipster/millennial wet dream of a business has never shown any shame if it means the potential of turning a profit.

Their latest controversial piece of clothing, however, has toed the delicate line between tongue in cheek and all-out assholery more than ever before. Although the company has already released a statement for immediate damage control, one has difficulty believing that the selling of a single vintage shirt with some “natural fading and sun exposure” that just so happens to look exactly like blood spatters wasn’t somehow a deliberate and overt reference to the Kent State massacre of 1970.

The sweatshirt has already been pulled from the website, leading one to believe that the real reason Urban Outfitters has apologized is due to the fact that the article wasn’t sellable. In any case, it should be interesting to see how the illustrious purveyor manages to top itself with the next bout of insolence. Though one has to almost admire such a level of devout brazenness.