Urban Outfitters: How Far Is Too Far?

On Monday, September 15, online shoppers of UrbanOutfitters.com were shocked to see the store offering customers the chance to buy a “vintage” Kent State University sweatshirt splattered in red coloring, which looked like blood. This sweatshirt is a clear reference to the 1970 campus shootings at Kent State and the school soon released a statement saying they took “great offense” to the promotion and sale of this sweatshirt. Kent State University wasn’t the only outraged audience though.

Angry customers took to social media to express their disbelief at how once again, Urban Outfitters has gone way too far. In addition to the bloodstained appearance of the sweatshirt, it was also priced at $129.00 and there was only one available. While Urban Outfitters CEO Richard Hayne did release an apology, it was defensive in nature, apologizing for those who may have felt “offended” and defended the integrity of Urban Outfitter’s vintage line.

However, in the last several years, this is just one of many Urban Outfitters clothing scandals. A brief timeline includes the following incidents:

2012: Urban Outfitters comes under fire for selling a $100 t-shirt mimicking the design of star patches Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust

2011: Urban Outfitters labels a clothing line and accessories “Navajo”

2010: Urban Outfitters debuts the “Eat Less” t-shirt

2010: Urban Outfitters sells a t-shirt in a color combination labeled “Obama/Black" 

2003: Urban Outfitters angers the African-American community with a Monolopy knock-off titled “Ghettopoly”

Over the years, these incidents have begun to pile-up and as a public relations student, I’ve begun to wonder if perhaps to Urban Outfitters, any publicity is thought of as a good publicity? While us Strategic Communication students learn early on this line of thinking is actually harmful to one’s brand reputation and message, Urban Outfitter’s actions have lead me to strongly believe they think otherwise. While most organizations seek to avoid controversy and utilize crisis communications in the event of a slip-up, it’s an interesting debate onto which side of this spectrum Urban Outfitters seems to fall. Time and time again though, they continue to seemingly provoke public controversy, but one begins to wonder: how far is too far?

As public relations students, what do you believe? Has Urban Outfitters gone too far this time? Let us know in the comments below!  

This guest blog was written by PRowl staff member Rachel Draghi. 

A Mid-Summer Check-In: Starting Those Fall PReparations Now

While fully entrenched in the “dog days of summer,” it can be alarming to realize to that the fall semester is rapidly approaching. Temple University’s first day is Monday, August 26 and that puts us about a month away from returning to North Philadelphia for another school year. Though it can seem tempting to put off all back-to-school preparations to the last couple weeks in August, now is actually the best time to start! The following are tips on ways to begin doing so.

Class schedules: As seasoned college students, we all know how crazy the first few weeks of a new semester can be. Between adjusting to new classes and professors and getting back in the swing of things, it’s wise to take another look at your class schedule well before August 26. Questions to ask yourself may include:

Am I taking classes to fulfill the mandatory gen-ed requirements?

How am I on taking core classes for my major? Am I taking the right classes to satisfy a potential minor? Do I need to meet with my advisor?

Am I okay with the times of my classes? Have I scheduled breaks in the day?

Am I looking to receive credit for an internship and what are the deadlines for that?

Fall Internships/Jobs: While us Strategic Communications students have been lucky to receive emails throughout the summer from our Internship Director Amanda Bednar, now is the time to begin actually solidifying those fall plans. In regards to internships:

What are you interested in? What sector of public relations are you looking to gain experience in?

What office environment do I thrive in? Is there somebody I can ask for a recommendation?

When finding a job, many students main concern is finding the time to fit work into an already busy schedule. Questions to consider include:

What range of flexibility does this job offer? Will I be able to fit this into my schedule?

What is the commute like and what would the typical hours be?

Resume/LinkedIn: While updating one’s resume and LinkedIn can seem like a daunting feat, now is the best time to do so before the hectic school year begins again! Make sure to include:

What you did over the summer: Did you intern, work, volunteer, start a blog or learn a new skill? Make sure to update accordingly! As you grow and learn as a student, your resume should reflect that.

If you don’t already have a LinkedIn, make one! LinkedIn allows for one to expand upon their resume and provide more information in regards to interests, career goals, etc.

Set goals: I’ve always looked at the upcoming school year as a great time to set goals. The start of a new school year always holds new opportunities and setting/reaching goals is an incredibly satisfying feeling. Seek to differentiate between short term and long term ones and set a reasonable timeline! Some potential goals may include:

Taking on a new internship or two.

Seeking out new volunteer opportunities – both professional and personal.

Working towards a leadership position in a current organization or joining a new one.

Working towards a higher GPA.

Do you have any tips for getting prepared for the fall semester now? Let us know; we could all benefit from them! 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Rachel Draghi.  

Made On Twitter: Budweiser Made In America Music Festival Releases Line Up Through Tweets

This Labor Day Weekend, the Budweiser Made In America musical festival will return to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for its third year in a row. While pre-sale tickets for the music festival were announced in the middle of April, festival goers were kept in the dark of the Philadelphia line-up until Thursday, May 22. On May 20, the Budweiser Made In America Twitter account tweeted that they were announcing the line up in two days and continued to keep fans updated until that time. In that two-day time span, the musical festival’s Twitter account consistently tweeted back at excited fans that were anxious for the lineup to drop. 

The morning of Thursday, May 22, the Budweiser Made In America Twitter account tweeted that that they were announcing the line up at noon and to stay tuned. Beginning a couple minutes after noon, this musical festival announced its line up exclusively via Twitter. While the Budweiser Made In America music festival could have just tweeted one graphic of the entire line up, they instead announced the artists through a series of short animations made to look like 3D neon posters. The musical festival’s Twitter account released a group of artists and then saved every headliner for last, each one having its own animation. The individual announcements were spaced out by about five minutes to build suspense and kept followers excited about what was to come.

While the Budweiser Made In America music festival could have simply just posted a general graphic of their line up on their Facebook, Twitter or website, they instead chose an outlet that allowed them to engage with their followers the most. By announcing the artists through a series of tweets, it kept followers connected throughout the line up process and reactions were live-tweeted as each round of artists was announced. By using Twitter, the Budweiser Made In America musical festival created a fun and unique experience for its followers by being interactive and follower-centered.

What do you think about the Budweiser Made In America music festival choosing to announce their line up exclusively via Twitter? Could for this work other brand announcements? Share your thoughts in the comments!   

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Rachel Draghi.

Top Five Twitter Etiquette Tips

Twitter has quickly become the most relevant social media websites, and is especially important in the public relations world. Twitter can be used for a wide variety of things, such as furthering one’s personal brands, connecting with other professionals and organizations and staying connected with what’s going on both in and out of the United States. In the fast-paced world of 140 characters, here a few tips to keep in mind when tweeting:

• Don’t overuse hashtags: While hashtags are both fun and can be helpful with connecting with others during events and conferences, use too many and the tweet begins to look a little messy. A good rule of thumb is to stick to three or less.

• No automatic DMs: To put it quite simply, they aren’t needed. The “thank you for the follow” and “feeling excited to connect with you” message isn’t personal. If looking to say something right away to a new follower, a personal tweet to the user tends to work much better!

• Try not to only tweet headlines and links: While it may be easier to just hit that “Retweet” button, if you do have the character room and want to add value to your tweet, go ahead and pull out an interesting line or two, or even a quote. While this may not apply to all types of articles you may see on Twitter, try and keep this one in the back of your mind next time you want to tweet out that really interesting article you just read.

• Don’t forget to add the MT: While just recently learning of this myself, the “MT” stands for “modified tweet.” As public relations students, we all know the thought and care that can go into crafting the perfect tweet. If you do have to slightly change another’s words in order to fit into the 140 requirement, don’t forget to MT to make others aware that wording was changed!

• If you are forced to write “spoiler alert,” don’t tweet it: Writing “spoiler alert” in your tweet pretty much ensures that something will be spoiled for somebody. In the age of Netflix and HBO GO, we all don’t watch our television programs at the same time when they air and if any of you are like me out there, Twitter has ruined many an episode of my favorite television programs. (particularly Game of Thrones last spring.) 

Are there any other tips that came to your mind while reading this? Is there anything that personally bothers you on Twitter? Share below!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Rachel Draghi.

The End of New Music Promotion?

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, December 12th, Beyoncé dropped her fifth album, “Beyoncé,” completely unannounced. On iTunes, 14 songs and 17 videos suddenly appeared with no prior promotion. Earlier that same week, when asked about what’s to come in 2014, the Chairman of Columbia Records, Rob Stringer said, “Obviously, at some point, Beyoncé will put a record out.” Little did anyone know that “at some point” meant later that week.

As of Wednesday, December 18th, “Beyoncé” has reached #1 on the Billboard Charts, set a new iTunes record and sold 828,773 copies worldwide. In a press release published after the album went on sale, Beyoncé said, “I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I’m bored with that.”

Six months ago on Friday, June 14th,“Yeezus,” Kanye West’s sixth solo album leaked to the public without any singles being released prior. This is highly unusual for a rap artist in today’s day and age. Most rap artists, such as Drake, 2 Chainz and even Jay Z, always release radio singles before releasing the album. In regards to releasing a single, Kanye said, “We ain’t got no single to radio. We ain’t got no big NBA campaign or nothing like that….When I listen to the radio, that ain’t where I want to be no more.” Now, Kanye’s album “Yeezus” is still being discussed, as well making its rounds on many of the “Best Albums of 2013” lists.

With world-renowned musicians such as Beyoncé and Kanye releasing their albums with little promotion or no singles, this begins to beg the question: Once one attains a certain level of celebrity, is marketing and promotion no longer needed? Typically, recording artists carefully craft promotion plans that begin advertising the release of a new album months in advance. These plans are meant to hone in on the image that the artist is looking to promote with their new album, release singles, give interviews and even perform parts of the album.

Many artists would be unable to get their new music off the ground without the help of marketing and public relations and it seems that only the elite few are able to successfully release their music without doing this. As this trend seems to be continuing, it’s up to public relations professionals to keep an eye on this, especially as some of us may be working for celebrities one day.

What do you think about Beyoncé dropping her new album unannounced – is this an effective approach that could be applied to other celebrities, or does it only work for artists such as herself and Kanye?

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Staff Member Rachel Draghi