Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Urban Outfitters clothing and home goods store has many loyal customers purchasing their unique items and childish style. Although their style and products are well liked among young hipsters, they have always been known for their controversial saying on products. Many people take offense to their blunt choices of prints and designs that contain controversial messages. Recently, in this article by adweek.com, they posted a vintage faded Kent State University sweatshirt with dye blood splatters, or what seemed to be. The company only had one for sale and did not refer to the 1970 anti-war student protesters killed and wounded at the University. Social media took off on this negative advertised product from a company that is constantly looking to be a topic of discussion. Teen Twitter members were furious that the company they purchased from were insensitive to the tragic event in 1970. Urban Outfitters posted an apology that the stains on the shirt were in no way supposed to represent a blood stain or had any connection to the 1970’s shooting event at Kent State University. Social consumers are gathering this negative information about Urban and seeing the hate from many on social media sites, this would lead them to purchase from a competing brand. Urban Outfitters digital identity of the way they represent themselves has been becoming more negative in the past couple years. With their countless articles of clothing with drinking and drugs messages, and their customer base under the age of 21 their reviews on social media have been nothing but negative. I feel that Urban Outfitters wants any sort of media coverage, good or bad. Having the spotlight on them encourages consumers to search the site, and possibly like some of their products. Urban has a fan base of mainly hipsters, which are identified as stepping out of the box and doing things outside the lines, the company is doing the same just in more extreme cases.

Recently in class we were assigned a project where we could choose a for profit on non-profit organization I chose Urban Outfitters, one of the most recent controversial clothing companies in today society.

This article describes how Urban Outfitters is defending there vintage Kent State sweater, however, most people see through the vintage look and see it as nothing more than the tragedy that occurred in 1970. The Ohio National Guard fired on a group of unarmed anti-war student protestors at Kent State, resulting in four deaths and nine wounded. As to be expected people who know the background behind Kent State automatically assume the red "vintage" stains on the sweater is blood stains, whether the stains represents blood or not this specific sweater has respectfully been pulled off the shelves.