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Culture January 13, 2017

6 Times Urban Outfitters Was Out of Order

Carmen Campbell
Entity reports on six times Urban Outfitters was out of line.

Do you really know Urban Outfitters?

Sure, if you’re an American aged 14-30 who doesn’t spend most of her time under a rock, you know all UO’s in-house designers and its sale schedule for the rest of the season. But did you know the youth fashion powerhouse is as controversial as it is influential?

In recent years, UO has found itself steeped in scandal and entrenched controversy after repeatedly making products that have severely offended a range of demographics. As the number one choice for kids willing to spend a little chunk of change to look “cool,” Urban Outfitters is shaping the modern definition of the word. Unfortunately, this great power hasn’t been entrusted with great responsibility.

Here are just a few of the times Urban Outfitters has gone out of line.

1 Kent State “vintage” sweater.

Urban Outfitters sold a distressed Kent State University sweatshirt with blood splatter detail. Many have interpreted it as a reference to the Kent State Massacre, a tragedy which for many is the first mass shooting in memory.

The university released a statement, “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.” UO responded by explaining that the sweatshirt was a one-of-a-kind vintage find that had experienced sun bleaching and discoloration, accounting for the “blood splatter.”

2 Offensive Holocaust Tapestry.

In 2012, Urban Outfitters offended the community with the use of what many perceive to be a transphobic slur on a greeting card. The product that UO originally described as “charming” has since incited a steady, slow-burning criticism from the LGBTQ community.

Years later in 2015 Urban Outfitters mass produced a tapestry reminiscent of the uniforms that gay Jewish men were required to wear during the Holocaust. The Anti-Defamation League condemned the product as “deeply offensive” and something that “should not be mainstreamed into popular culture.” Although many point that the similarity is difficult to deny, these were allegations that Urban Outfitters elected to discount, as they continued to sell the tapestry.

The organization’s difficulties with the gay community stretch back to 2008, when UO pulled production of a tee that said “I support gay marriage.” The tee was pulled from stores only a week later as a result of what UO explains as consumer backlash. Critics at Racked uphold that this bad press UO speaks of consisted of precisely one blog post.

READ MORE: LGBTQ Power! 3 Reasons to Be Proud of Pride

3 Mocking those struggling with mental illness.

In 2011, the millennial fashion tastemaker designed and sold a v-neck tee emblazoned with the slogan, “Eat less.” Critics expressed abject outrage over the shirt, expressing that their mental illness was not to be glamorized, encouraged or made fashionable.

More recently, Urban Outfitters began selling an Anatomicals shampoo called Peachy Head: Peach Shampoo for Suicidal Hair. On the back of the shampoo bottle, a mass of hair drawn in the form of a body is shown throwing itself off a cliff.

A photo posted by @lydia.vdgraaff on

The product’s sale has since been discontinued by both UO and Anatomicals.

4 Insensitivity toward Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

In 2005, UO made a tee that said “New Mexico: Cleaner than regular Mexico.” The Anti Defamation League commented saying that the “inappropriate and unnecessary disparagement of that country” suggested that “Mexico is a dirty place.” They requested that UO pull the shirt from shelves and invest in diversity training for staff, as it seems they have continuing issues with racial insensitivity. These requests were not acknowledged by Urban Outfitters.

5 Appropriation of the Navajo Nation.

For the last four years, the Navajo Nation has been involved in a lawsuit with Urban Outfitters for trademark infringement incurred via its use of the Navajo name on various UO and affiliate products (all of which, for the record, have since been denounced as culturally appropriative).

UO won an earlier round of the suits based upon its argument and the eventual ruling that the largest American Indian tribe today was not “widely recognized by the general consuming public of the United States.”

6 This board game.

In 2003, the Monopoly parody – bubbed Gettopoly – was created by David Chang and mass produced by Urban Outfitters. Game features include the ability to build crack houses in projects instead of houses, game pieces including “a ho” and “a 40 oz” and taxation squares replaced by carjacking and “police shakedowns.”

A photo posted by ?Lissy? (@thimslick09) on

Black clergymen have denounced the game, whose logo includes a muscled dark-skinned black man grimacing in an off-white tank top with liquor and weapon in hand, as profoundly harmful. Although UO discontinued its sale, creator Chang continues to defend his product, “It draws on stereotypes not as a means to degrade, but as a medium to bring people together in laughter. If we can’t laugh at ourselves … we’ll continue to live in blame and bitterness.”

A court that estimated he had generated $8,790,000 in revenue later found him guilty in a suit with Hasbro over unauthorized similarities to the brand’s famous board game.

7 A win against Urban Outfitters

Perhaps in response to the multitude of insensitive and offensive products sold by Urban Outfitters, social media recently fired back at the company. UO came under fire on Twitter with the hashtag #UrbanOutfittersBeLike, which was inspired by “Maya’s Marble Ponytail Holder,” which cost $8.

maya's marble

Ponytail holder, priced at $8.

Users on Twitter heckled Urban Outfitters for mass producing cheap products used by minorities under a new name and much higher prices.

By many, the use of this hashtag only serves as a win against a company that has provoked much controversy in recent years.

READ MORE: 5 Female Hashtags That Will Empower You

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