Hi, my name is Livi, and I’m a shopping addict. And until recently, Urban Outfitters was my drug of choice. My addiction developed freshman year when my friends and I would go to State Street every Friday, which almost always included a quick stop inside Urban to peruse the sale racks. And yet, even a devoted Urbanite like myself couldn’t turn a blind eye to some of the controversial of clothing the store has been producing. It’s no secret that the company has always aired on the more edgy side, but I think we can all agree there’s a fine line between edgy and offensive. In these cases, Urban Outfitters has severely crossed that line.
Before Urban Outfitters pulled this shirt from their website, the description next to it said, “Eat less or more or however much you’d like in this seriously soft knit tee.” If eat “however much you’d like” is what you believe, Urban, then why isn’t THAT what you put on the shirt? At 19 years old, I’ve pretty much come to terms with the body I’ve been given, so a shirt like this doesn’t really have an impact on me. In fact, my reaction upon seeing it was to give a derisive laugh and scoff, “I will eat however much I damn want, thank you very much.” And then I ate a cookie in protest. But body image is a serious issue in our society today, and when I think about people like my 13 year-old sister, who is convinced her stunning size four body isn’t skinny enough, I start to get a little upset about this shirt. While I mock it, she might believe in it, and maintaining a motto of eating less is not exactly a recipe for high self-esteem.
I mean, it’s not like prescription drugs are one of the most abused substances in the country or anything. Honestly, what was the thought process going on here when this idea was approved? “Hey, lets make a shot glass that resembles a pill bottle so people can pretend they’re overdosing on prescription painkillers! We are going to be such trend-setters.” Sorry Urban, as it turns out, drug abuse is not as fashionable as you think it is.
“Alright team, I know our products promoting anorexia and prescription drug abuse didn’t seem to go over very well, but I just have a feeling that murder is going to be really ‘in’ this season.” Okay, so that was probably an unnecessarily harsh depiction of whoever designed this sweatshirt, but come on. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly certain murder does not fall under the category of “vintage,” especially when it’s referring to one of the most sensitive events of our country’s history.
While Urban Outfitters has released apologies for each of these scandalous products (as well as several more), I still don’t feel right about benefitting a company that makes light of such issues. So for now, Urban, it’s time for us to take a break. I’m not saying we have to break up for good, but you really need to get your act together before we can ever be together again.