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WebLinks: Contexts for Exploring Visual and Verbal Texts |
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Chapter 8 - Debating Culture |
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As you read about the controversies surrounding some of the Urban Outfitters products that have taken off the shelves, decide for yourself what role companies should have in promoting and cultivating civic values. When does a company like Urban Outfitters go too far in poking fun at certain groups? How can companies encourage political participation among young people?
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8488247.htm
Promoting apathy among young voters? It isn't the first thing Urban Outfitters has been accused of. This article from the Philadelphia Inquirer—the local paper of Urban Outfitters' hometown—discusses some of the retailer's other kitschy products people have found offensive over the years. While some think Jesus paraphernalia and jokes about urban ghettos are part of our cultural terrain, where anything's fair game, others think the store's irreverence has gone too far.
http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=3134
http://www.vintagevantage.com/votingreaction.html
Follow the first link and you'll read John Foster-Keddie, a Yale graduate and the creator of the infamous "Voting is for Old People" t-shirt, talking in an interview about his company's guiding sense of humor, their antagonists, and his response to the media brouhaha surrounding the Urban Outfitters controversy. The second link is to Foster-Keddie's company's home page, where you'll find a summary of the controversy's media coverage.
http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_urbanapathy_story.php
The wave of outrage one little t-shirt provoked was not limited to rock musicians and bloggers. It also inspired people like former congressman Dan Glickman, Director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, to defend young voters. Rock the Vote gives its own version of events here.
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