Urban Outfitters Offends With New Tapestry
Urban Outfitters has drawn criticism over a tapestry the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) calls "eerily reminiscent" of uniforms gay men were forced to wear in Nazi concentration camps. The ADL released a statement on Monday urging the Philadelphia-based company to remove the tapestry from stores.
"Whether intentional or not, this gray and white stripped [sic] pattern and pink triangle combination is deeply offensive and should not be mainstreamed into popular culture," Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director and Holocaust survivor, said in the statement.
This comes nearly three years after the ADL published a letter to Urban Outfitters, criticizing the company for selling a T-shirt with a yellow Star of David, similar to the patch Jews were made to wear in Nazi Germany. According to The Week, the ADL expressed outrage over the sale of the item, calling it "extremely distasteful and offensive."
Urban Outfitters has a history of pushing the envelope when it comes to its products. In September of last year, the company issued a formal apology for a seemingly blood-spattered Kent State University sweatshirt. It also got heat for distributing pens that looked like hypodermic needles last June, as well as selling T-shirts with a symbol that bore resemblance to a major Chicago gang.
Brendan Menapace is the content director for Promo+Promo Marketing.