Kenneth Cole’s Crass Tweet an Attempt to Capitalize on Egypt Crisis

Kenneth Cole tweet trivializes Egyptian crisis and sparks huge backlash against the fashion guru.

Everyone is buzzing about a crass tweet by fashion designer Kenneth Cole who used the protests in Egypt to comment on his new collection. Here’s his tweet:

Twitter rage at the crass quote was quick to rise. Cole then tried to take it all back. “I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues,” Cole said in his Facebook apology.

But according to Coilhouse, “this morning at 2 AM, San Francisco residents spotted this mysterious and super professional-looking decal [see photo below] on the window of Kenneth Cole’s SOMA location”.

Here’s what I think about Kenneth Cole:

• Some things aren’t funny. Period.
• Your tweet was more than poorly timed — it was in bad taste and shows a real lack of sensitivity to the people fighting and dying for their freedom.
• Fashion just isn’t that important.
• Where are your priorities? I mean really, where are they?

Many business blogs have responded to Cole’s gaffe with advice on public relations and how to use twitter. This largely misses the point and fails to address the key issue: the underlying belief by many businesses in America that everything can be turned into a marketing opportunity. Now, even death and destruction is marketable. What next? Posing a fashion model in Cairo wearing shoes that it would cost most Egyptians a lifetime to own?

Yes, the Kenneth Cole tweet was a blunder which I’m sure Cole regrets, but the very act of posting that tweet shows just how out of step this fashion guru really is.

Photo Credit

“Kenneth Cole Mikest @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.

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