For just $129, you could purchase what is probably one of the most offensive sweatshirts that has ever managed to slip past a design team.
On Monday, retail clothing store Urban Outfitters, released a vintage Kent State University sweatshirt that featured what looked like fake blood splattered across the front and back. For obvious reasons, many assumed that the sweatshirt was a reference to the Kent State massacre that occurred on the campus in 1970, when four unarmed students were shot and killed by soldiers of the Ohio National Guard during a protest of the Vietnam War.
Not surprisingly, the listing prompted a hefty amount of backlash from the Twitter-verse, with one person even Tweeting, “Just bought a bunch of stuff from Urban Outfitters yesterday. Contemplating returning it all after this disgusting sweatshirt situation.”
A few hours after the social media frenzy began, Kent State also issued a response to the situation.
“We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit,” the school responded. “This item is beyond poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still hurts the Kent State community today,” the school said in a statement written on their official website.
Urban Outfitters hasn’t been much of a stranger to controversy lately, after just recently being boycotted by One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush after the release of a T-shirt with the words “Eat Less” printed on the front.
The company has since apologized for the tasteless sweatshirt, claiming that the reference to the shootings was just a coincidence.
“Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offence our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused,” reads the statement. “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.”
The sweatshirt is now listed on the company’s website as sold out.