In Part I — now labeled as such since I didn’t know there would be a fitting Part II and, come to think of it, this could turn into an awkward series — of Viva la Political Correctness we talked about Americans being offended by Mexicans. In this sequel we look at a reversal of roles. Sort of. And more.
The Anti-Defamation League, who “[combats] anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds”, is asking Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters to stop selling a T-shirt that reads “New Mexico, Cleaner than Regular Mexico.” Now, literally, this statement is true: Mexico can be a very dirty place and unfortunately suffers from serious pollution problems. Metaphorically though, the T-shirt insinuates a non-politically correct message. “It is an inappropriate and unnecessary disparagement of that country,” writes Barry Morrison of the ADL in a letter to Urban Outfitters’ CEO Richard Hayne, “and people identified with the country should not be subjected to this type of ridicule and debasing reference.” To be perfectly honest, I let out a chuckle when I saw the T-shirt; besides cleanliness factors, New Mexico and Mexico are so far apart (geographically and culturally) and unrelated that any comparison falls short of a realistic concern. What is interesting about this, and the reason why I have brought this up, is Urban Outfitters’ role.
In that same letter, Mr. Morrison quips that Mr. Hayne should “seriously consider undertaking diversity training of [their] personnel.” A remark made in reference to Urban Outfitters’ consistent inventory of questionable taste. In 2004, the ADL forced Urban Outfitters to remove a T-shirt that read “Everyone loves a Jewish Girl” with floating dollar signs around it, they succeeded — at least, in its latest iteration the dollar signs have been replaced by hearts. Shortly thereafter, Urban Outfitters released a “Voting is for Old People” T-shirt that drew equal amounts of heat — most publicly from death metal’s Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen — and it didn’t help that 2004 was a voting year. Three years earlier, Urban Outfitters was asked to remove a T-shirt, “Kansas Cattle Queen”, that literally depicted women as a piece of meat.
If you’ve been to an Urban Outfitters plenty of its appeal relies on the hipster tchotchkes and useless nicknacks you can buy. Among those that have been contested are Ghettopoly, which goes without explanation and a Jesus on a cross wearing nothing but underwear that you can dress up. I remember once going to Urban Outfitters with my parents and my mom stopped by a two-foot high, wheeled, red velvet-covered Jesus… she was laughing, in disbelief mostly. Products that go unnoticed range from a Position of the Day calendar to a Gangsta Rap Coloring Book to an endless number of T-shirts that, if not read or consumed with youthful ambivalence and whateverness, have yet to meet their offendee.
With 80 stores across the U.S. (72), Canada (3) and Europe (5), and a five year-long sales growth, Urban Outfitters has come a long way in outfitting “well-educated, urban-minded young adults [18 to 30 years]” since its humble origins in a Philadelphia townhouse near the University of Pennsylvania campus. And it has done so in style at both consumer and corporate communication levels through a Pastiche Chic — male and female! — look that borrows from the past and delivers a retro cool flair that easily matches their audience’s straight-out-of-bed style. Their stores, set in loft-like environments, with blasting music, good-looking young shoppers, and made-to-look unique merchandise delivers the brand at the street level with frightening precision while their sophisticated-patterned and subtle-typeset annual reports lure investors and the web site, in its ever changing format — last year it changed at least six times if memory serves me right — maintains a freshness to its hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors. Needles to say, Urban Outfitters knows the game and plays it well.
And part of their game is to push — mayhaps unintentionally? (Yeah, right!) — conservative buttons to garner some publicity — San Francisco Supervisor, Gerardo Sandoval noticed, saying, “I started getting calls from Latinos about it, and the more I looked at it, the more I realized Urban Outfitters seem like they were doing it to get more notoriety,” and they did, in a news conference by Mr. Sandoval blasting the company. After all, pulling an item from the shelves must pale in comparison to the influx of “well-educated, urban minded young adults” ready to spend their money to infuriate parents, teachers and passersby with snappy-sloganed T-shirts, tussled hair and lax attitude. Urban Outfitters dresses a somewhat affluential age and social group, that proudly sport their coolness with their T-shirt selection; should they be concerned with the merchandise stocked in their stores? At what point does making a buck override making a cultural faux pas that may be offensive to some? Is a T-shirt just a T-shirt? Is Urban Outfitters as clean as New Mexico, or as dirty as the regular Mexico?
I wonder how many liberal-leaning hipster types know that the owner of UO is chummy with Rick Santorum.
On Aug.01.2005 at 02:47 PM