Bloody Kent State Sweatshirt? Urban Outfiters Apologizes For ‘Vintage’ Item

Congratulations, Urban Outfitters, you win. Your “vintage” bloody Kent State sweatshirt is easily the most disgusting and offensive product of the year.

The Kent State Sweatshirt features faded colors and the school’s logo. Oh, it also features fake blood stains, a reference to the shooting on May 4, 1970 that left four students dead.

Urban Outfitters sells bloodied Kent State U. sweatshirt – (dis)honoring 1970 massacre. pic.twitter.com/YJVhHZO6mh

— Khaled Bey (@KhaledBeydoun) September 15, 2014

The bloody Kent State sweatshirt stirred outrage online. Did Urban Outfitters really think it was a good idea to sell shirts commemorating a deadly school shootings? How many people at the company signed off on this shirt? How many people thought that it was a good idea to sell this?

Blood stained vintage Kent State sweatshirts? Is Urban Outfitters insane? That’s like selling a blood stained Sandy Hook Elementary T-shirt

— Ian Cameron (@NoodzMan) September 15, 2014

So Urban Outfitters released a Kent State sweatshirt that looks like blood is splattered all over it… That’s so messed up..

— Megan Williams (@justmegnificent) September 15, 2014

According to Urban Outfitters, the sweatshirt has nothing to do with the tragic events of May 4, 1970. Instead, Urban Outfitters says that the “blood” on the shirt is the result of a bad color job.

Urban Outfitters writes: “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.”

Are you buying that? Do you think that those are blood stains on the vintage Kent State sweatshirt? Or is it just a simple mistake?

Kent State posted a statement about the sweatshirt on its website. The school writes: “May 4, 1970, was a watershed moment for the country and especially the Kent State family. We lost four students that day while nine others were wounded and countless others were changed forever. We take great offense to a company using our pain for their publicity and profit. This item is beyond poor taste and trivializes a loss of life that still hurts the Kent State community today.”