![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
this design:
a t-shirt with the motto "voting is for old people".
cute eh?
Now, maybe it's just me, but I find that a pretty disgusting slogan and design to be propagating voter apathy, especially in these days of increasing voter involvement with younger folks. To say nothing of young voters usual voting habits and the political leanings of the Urban Outfitters leaders.
You can tell them what you think about it here:
Urban Outfitters Corporate Number is: 215-564-2313.
E-mail addresses for a variety of honchos available here.
Urban Outfitters, Inc.
1809 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
-C.
Update: MTV, NPR, adbusters, the Wall St. Journal and probably about a million other media outlets have picked up this story and guess who comes up in a search for this thing? yup.... lil' ol' me, so hi to all of the people out there discovering this journal, if you want to know about me go here, but i'm a politically active person, who plays in a rock band and organizes stuff for Bands Against Bush. One of the things we do with Bands Against Bush is register young voters, something I take very seriously, especially this year. The purpose of this post was to open up a discussion on this thing, which definitely seems to have happened, so yeah... hi.
March 9th Update: Looks like UO pulled the shirt.
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February 3 2004, 14:28:28 UTC 8 years ago
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/archi
February 3 2004, 14:39:18 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
oh yeah, it's 100% deliberate I have not doubt about it whatsoever...the guy is scum as is Urban Outfitters, I just wrote them a nasty e-mail.
-C.
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February 3 2004, 14:31:20 UTC 8 years ago
February 3 2004, 14:37:49 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
Somebody needs to tell that to Urban outfitters.-C.
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February 3 2004, 14:43:47 UTC 8 years ago
February 3 2004, 14:49:07 UTC 8 years ago
To me, it's almost like giving them too much credit to be outraged at the opression of young people over a ringer tee. It's an Onion article waiting to happen. And if someone's gullible enough to not vote because some trucker-cap adorned quasi-hipster's t-shirt told them to, maybe it's not such a loss! :P
February 3 2004, 15:04:54 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
hmmm... well here's the thing, I find Urban Outfitters on the whole to be completely offensive, they use sweatshop labor to make their crappy clothes that they market to young yuppies in waiting. I can't think of who I dislike more, them or the Gap, it's a tossup, but I truly dislike both. Their main dude is a bigtime shill for the GOP also, but that's not even the issue here...What I find offensive about it is that even as an ironic or glib reference it just seems remarkably partisan. But it's different from say a t-shirt with some Clinton joke on it, (which you can still find 3 years after he left office!) it's advocating opting out from the (admittedly flawed) electoral process altogether and leaving it to the "old folks", who tend to be more conservative.
It's offensive because it's subversive. It's easy to say "oh, it's just a stupid joke." and "I don't know anybody that would wear that anyway...", actually I don't know anybody that would wear that, well, nobody I would call a friend anyway.
But then I think of places like Modesto and what not, where people are already totally disenfranchised and to assign any sort of cool to something like that really bugs me.
I'd be disgusted if they had a shirt that said "old people SHOULDN'T vote" too, but since they aren't disenfranchised and tend to vote regularly, it's less of a point.
Honestly I don't think a t-shirt is going to convince anybody of anything, but it does plant the seed, and for something like voting, where it's a huge hassle and has all of these ties to distasteful things anyway, I think that's a seed that should be paid attention to less it grow into further crab grass.
-C.
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February 3 2004, 16:33:46 UTC 8 years ago
Anonymous
March 2 2004, 11:55:11 UTC 8 years ago
thanks for getting homeland security to log this site
Of course you have the right to say what you want, but your message is irresponsible and is the kind of thing that labels progressives as "terrorists." Still, I hope you vote.February 3 2004, 17:20:46 UTC 8 years ago
Today, I called my friend to remind her to vote, and she was telling me how her mom was going to vote for Lieberman(sp?), and while we both agreed that we're glad that her mom has a mind of her own and isn't just going along with the "majority rules" way of thinking, she still felt like telling her mom: "Why don't you just throw your vote away?"
AND THEN she said she should make that a new tshirt for Urban Outfitters. I almost died.
February 4 2004, 11:21:53 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
yikes, so that's who was voting for Joementum, misguided moms.heh.
Yeah at least she is making her own decisions though, that's something.
BTW, if you want to learn a little more about the frontrunner's secret group, i've been checking out about skull 'n bones... creepy stuff.
-C.
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February 3 2004, 19:10:09 UTC 8 years ago
puke!
February 4 2004, 10:40:47 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
that place seriously bugs me, in ways that I can't explain as much as the ways that I can.Also, i'd like to make it known that i'm resentful of the fact that I know who Ashton Kutcher is. Seeing as how I make the personal choice of opting out of most mainstream media outlets, it makes me sad that part of my brain is taken up with the useless factoids of:
"Oh yeah that's the guy boning Demi Moore."
feh!
and yes I agree.
-C.
February 3 2004, 19:17:06 UTC 8 years ago
but on the other hand, just to fuck with the intent...
I really kind of want my grandpa to have that shirt. And he would wear it. Oh yes, he would...
February 4 2004, 10:38:49 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
now THAT would be badass... nothing like taking some obnoxious hipster ironic artifact and turning the irony back on itself.-C.
Anonymous
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February 5 2004, 00:36:13 UTC 8 years ago
you'll like this
I made this up and I think it should be on a shirt:FOR THOSE ABOUT TO VOTE WE SALUTE YOU
February 5 2004, 10:29:40 UTC 8 years ago
Re: you'll like this
I would SO buy one of those shirts...think we can get somebody to make the design?
we could put it on cafepress.
-C.
Anonymous
8 years ago
February 5 2004, 11:30:59 UTC 8 years ago
I remember when Urban Outfitters used to be cool--back when they sold clothing that was actually vintage and not just made to look that way.
UO is #3 on the "This Company Sucks" list. Seriously.
February 5 2004, 16:29:41 UTC 8 years ago
Re:
Hey, awesome... I love it when people comment before the add me, that way I know who they are.My name is Conan, this is my world.
Yeah UO is totally on my shit list!
who are #1 and #2 for you?
-C.
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Anonymous
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February 13 2004, 10:31:01 UTC 8 years ago
MTV working on this story
hey folks, MTV News is working on a story about UO and the t-shirt in question. what cities are you guys seeing the shirts in? oh yeah, check out the Choose or Lose site and give us your two cents.Anonymous
February 18 2004, 18:13:34 UTC 8 years ago
February 18 2004, 21:56:26 UTC 8 years ago
February 19 2004, 10:16:28 UTC 8 years ago
too true...
It's just so abjectly cynical and disgustingly ironic, but the fact is, guised in humor or not it's making light of a serious problem in a glib way.It's a fine balance between puritanical outrage and righteous indignation, it really is, and obviously it's a free country so the creator and sellers of the shirt have a right to sell it.
But that doesn't make it right.
I could make a shirt that says:
"Hitler was a great guy."
And i'd be allowed, under my freedom of speech rights, to wear it, but it'd be seriously beyond the pale to do so.
This obviously, isn't as bad as that, but is still pretty bad.
-C.
Anonymous
February 18 2004, 23:17:07 UTC 8 years ago
voting
i like the shirt..so as the one i saw which read "REELECT REAGAN"! haha i like it when people don't take things seriously.February 19 2004, 09:54:40 UTC 8 years ago
Re: voting
I guess my problem with it is that I think people have wrapped themselves up so perfectly within their covers of irony and cynacism, that there is very little of actual value and interest, very little sincerity that people believe in.If you've been let down so many times, and so many things have been proven false, the natural progression is to view everything in a sardonic disconnected manner.
I reject that.
-C.
Anonymous
February 24 2004, 20:23:31 UTC 8 years ago
Terrible
Can't they be a bit more creative and not treat young people like idiots?Anonymous
March 1 2004, 16:47:36 UTC 8 years ago
Your apathy is their victory.
"Your apathy is their victory." ~bandsagainstbush.comremember there are younger kids watching tv and listening to radio too. if they get submerged enough in this media crap they'll end up believing that it's true. That's why it is soooo damn crucial that we all take a stand against it, so we can protect all the other people our age and younger as well.
~h
February 25 2004, 02:42:21 UTC 8 years ago
T-shirt will be responsible for 100,000 new young voters
You guys are obviously short sighted and simple minded.This t-shirt was designed to stimulate a reverse psychology response by its viewers, and to create the news publicity that it has generated. Urban Outfitters wont tell you this, because it would take away from the ultimate power and effect of their message.
To put it simply, the young people who see this shirt will think, "no dude... no old folk is gonna to tell me I can't vote." and they will go vote.
Just, don't tell anyone. Young people don't like being tricked into voting.
- Eric
February 25 2004, 10:03:36 UTC 8 years ago
Re: T-shirt will NOT be responsible for 100,000 new young voters
You guys are obviously short sighted and simple minded.And you are obviously itching for a flame war.
By your psychology the best way to promote racial equity would be to walk around with a shirt that says "Everyone hates black people".
Perhaps we could establish clear cutting by promoting a "healthy forests" initiative, while we're at it.
Reverse psychology does work, to some degree, but not on this. At best what you get is a bunch of kids patting themselves on the back for recognizing that they "get" the joke, all the while never addressing the real problem.
You have far, far more faith in the average young person then I do.
-C.
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February 25 2004, 23:56:07 UTC 8 years ago
February 26 2004, 10:30:00 UTC 8 years ago
word sure does get around fast.
NPR now... really?Hmmm i'm a pretty regular listener, wow that's really something.
It's really great in a way because it's promoting discussion.
The MTV story didn't really editorialize it, they just covered the story and said that there was a lot of vocal outrage over it.
An understandable point to take for a major media outlet.
-C.
Anonymous
February 26 2004, 06:31:10 UTC 8 years ago
what the americain hell.
Hi! I'm french and i'd like just that you stop being so stupid in politic. You're the shame country of the world in politic just take bush president , shwarzenneger senator ... and now i see this stupid t-shirt.Anonymous
February 26 2004, 10:21:27 UTC 8 years ago
Re: what the americain hell.
We're working on it dude, we're working on it. It's kind of rough over here right now, and the country is really politicly divided. Many young voters, I included, were working for a 3rd party 4 years ago, and now were thrown into an ultimatum. Yes, arnie is disturbing, but why don't you check out some of our cooler personalities, like Jello Biafra or Al Franken, or even a Bill Mahr.8 years ago
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February 26 2004, 10:52:25 UTC 8 years ago
urban outfitters?
I never heard of urban outfitters until last summer when i moved to bloomington to go to IU. Now i see everyone wearing clothes from that place and they're really, really stupid and overpriced. I've never actually been in the store, and i don't know much about it, but from knowing the types of people who wear clothes from there, and now this ridiculous "voting is for old people" shirt, i'm for sure never going to support this place. especially now that i've heard of their use of sweatshopsFebruary 26 2004, 11:08:07 UTC 8 years ago
makes it all worth while
And that right there makes all of this activity completely worthwhile.Yeah, that place seriously sucks, on every level.
It's just too bad that nobody has either thought of, or gotten the resources to make a store that sells stuff made by people with fair labor practices and what not.
It seems like a no brainer.
I'd shop there, no matter what the cost.
As it stands I get almost everything I own second hand.
-C.
Anonymous
February 26 2004, 12:34:49 UTC 8 years ago
found you through google!
I found you through googling this ridiculous t-shirt slogan. I'm glad there are other people out there enraged by this as much as I am.I am urging everyone I know to boycott Urban Outfitters until they take this shirt off their shelves. I've also alerted MoveOn.Org in the hopes they will pick it up and take Urban Outfitters to the ring.
It's absolutely ridiculous that they would sell
something like this, especially in an upcoming election year where missing votes of younger voters could alter the face of the nation forever. It's hard enough to get younger voters out to vote, but now we have the "hipper than thou" Urban Outfitters perpetuating the myth that it's "uncool" to care about politics.
I also emailed Russell Simmon's a "thank you" for standing up against them in a news snippet I read today in the NY Post.
(you can read the article here: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/1
Let's hope this ends with them taking some much needed responsibility and pulling this off their shelves!
-Katie C.
katie@subterraneanpictures.com
February 26 2004, 19:40:16 UTC 8 years ago
February 27 2004, 10:24:16 UTC 8 years ago
I don't think anybody is saying that they CAN'T wear them.
If people think it's funny or are trying to make a cynical statement, then that's their right under freedom of speech. It's your right to wear a shirt that says "Hitler was right." if you feel so inclined. It's also my right to think that they are idiots and to intensely dislike Urban Outfitters and their ilk for what they've done to the consumer landscape. To say nothing of their own political leanings.-C.
PS: he's the President (s)Elect.
Anonymous
February 27 2004, 09:04:31 UTC 8 years ago
Urban Outfitters Clientele As Voters?
Hey Gang, I see where y'all coming from, but people who shop at Urban Outfitters are upper-class progeny, just a bunch of jerk-off hipsters who are so far removed from reality that we probably don't want their fucked up, elitist, voices heard on election day. I mean, c'mon, shopping at Urban Outfitters should be a slave trade crime in itself. Do you think those people are going to do the right thing, or vote to keep themselves removed from the problems and in control? $28 for a t-shirt? I got everything I'm wearing right now for less than $28!Anonymous
March 25 2004, 12:21:00 UTC 8 years ago
Re: Urban Outfitters Clientele As Voters?
yeah, the revolution starts on livejournal.putz.
also:
the thong i'm wearing cost 800 dollars and it's made of solid gold. Therefore, my whole outfit cost 800 dollars
February 27 2004, 09:42:06 UTC 8 years ago
voting is for virgins
I shit you not. www.votervirgin.comIrony is overstocked. Love is in. Smile like you know something they don't. It makes them nervous. Smile a lot. Love your neighbor. Rock hard. Embrace non-voters. Vote.
Thanks for getting this issue out to the people. Lots of talk about organizing registration drives outside the stores. Corporate offices are overwhelmed with calls. The buzz is stimulating dialogue and keeping the issue of the youth vote alive. Thanks
Peace
February 27 2004, 09:58:41 UTC 8 years ago
apathy come$ full circle
Is apathy so prevalent (arts and politic especially) that now people allow apathy sold to be sold to them??..Exercise a positive form of apathy and pay no attention to urban outfitters (this is easy in El Paso, TX we dont have an UO)..Is there anything America(tm) wont buy??..Anonymous
February 27 2004, 12:02:51 UTC 8 years ago
It's just somebody's interpretation of young peoples attitude towards voting. But obviously if someone has the attitude interpreted in this shirt they're most likely not going to read this. I hope MTV uses this to help them in their RocktheVote campaign.
~ 4U5T1N
Anonymous
March 1 2004, 16:43:48 UTC 8 years ago
Apathy? Whats there to be apathetic about?!?
no no no i dont think thats the case at all, i know lots of people ages 18-23 years old who are infuriated with the way our society is today. I know lots of guys who are mad that they can barely afford college while working 30-40 hours per week barely making a living wage and they are furious with the fact that their friends are going to iraq for a frivolous reason AND becoming injured OR DYING as a result of WMD's. Stupid W.M.D.'s! As a female i'm angry that not only our president but our congressis attempting to alienate us further by using the PATRIOT ACT II as a way to conceal the "RAVE Act" (yes to force entry into any suspected home or club, etc where the govt have 'suspicion' of people with illegal drug activity, what about search warrants!! we have a system of check and balances and they can't just go and bypass it like that!!)nevermind the repealing of Roe vs. Wade. NO man, excuse me, no ONE will ever tell me what to with my body, I will do what is best for my health and my well being. AND IF they have a problem with that...why are they so against birth control? SUre EVERYONE can get Viagra, but nobody can get condoms in schools etc, and they cost like $10.00 for 12 at a convience store. Hmm... that doesn't see right. ANd what about our free speech? they are tryin g to control that too. Example, in Miami when people were protesting the NAFTA/WTO summit there, during '02, peaceful protestors were shot at with solid beag-bag type bullets, (which ended up getting lodged in some protestors heads nearly killing them), and the rest got arrested and dispersed (even though they were peaceful, the cops got $1,000,000.00 from the Feds to dress up in rot gear and shoot people) THis is a great country isn't it? SO i am very surprised that you are sitting there at you computer saying that people are apathetic toward voting. thank GOD i get to vote tomorrow...Anonymous
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