Kenneth Cole Draws Ire Over Gun Control Tweet

Lauren Indvik2013-04-19 01:34:58 UTC

Perhaps fashion designer Kenneth Cole should stay off Twitter during sensitive political moments — or at least, his social media manager should.

After provoking harsh criticism for a February 2011 tweet, in which the designer used the protests in Cairo to promote his spring collection, Cole was at it again Thursday.

This time, the brand used the fact that the Senate voted down a mild gun control measure on background checks — one supported by 90% of Americans, according to polls — to make a joke about footwear.

On Twitter, the joke went down like a lead balloon. Some sample reactions:

@laureni Oof. AGAIN with the awful current events ties? My word.

— Victoria Ashley (@VictoriaAshley4) April 18, 2013

@laureni Is @kennethcole the brand that consistently tweets stupid things at the wrong times on the wrong issues?

— Jon (@JustJon) April 18, 2013

@laureni Not again. #FAIL

— Amber Harris (@TheNuwanda) April 18, 2013

The tweet is by no means as offensive as his previous tweet about Cairo, which suggested that the pro-democracy rioting was brought on by the brand's spring collections. Still, you might expect Cole would have learned not to take advantage of trending topics on sensitive issues to fete his own products. Or, for that matter, his views on bare feet.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Ian Muttoo

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