Kent State Sweatshirt

           The Kent State shooting occured on May 4, 1970, when 4 students of Kent State University in Ohio were shot and killed by members of the Ohio National Guard.  Nine other protesters were wounded in the incident.  This occurred in the midst of the Vietnam War, which was the issue that the students were protesting.  This mindset of protesting government intervention was popular in the 60's and 70's, especially among young people.  They had only grown up in the war, and they were tired of their family and friends being drafted into a war that they were losing.
          In an act of incredibly bad taste, the popular clothing chain Urban Outfitters released a sweatshirt in 2014 that had a faded logo of the University on it, as well as a faded red color throughout and what looked liked small holes and blood splatters on its left side.  The sweater was sold for $129, and was described as "vintage, soft, and one-of-a-kind".  The store later admits that they only had one in circulation, as having bought it form a flea market in Southern California (the sweatshirt was only sold online).  They then had to pass it off as part of their "sun-faded" collection, with the holes due to the old nature of the sweatshirt.
         As disgusting as this is, this is not the first time Urban Outfitters has capitalized on tragedy.  The store repeatedly uses words relating to mental health such as "suicide" and "depression" to sell skin care products and crop tops.  They are also known for using eerily holocaust-like long-sleeved shirts, in addition to their use of racial stereotypes to describe clothing color or make prints. 
         And while the tragedy of this still remains a tragedy, we as American consumers must look critically into what we buy what our money is going towards.  Businesses are always going to capitalize off of tragedy - but the only thing we can do is look at ourselves critically pertaining to what we consume and how it reflects on us.