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Dunkin Donuts owes us an explanation. Why in the world did you succumb to the threats of conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and Fox News and pull this ad?
Just because they say the scarf is a Keffiyeh doesn't make it so. It's a fashion accessory.
If the whole incident wasn't so frightening, it would be funny. This is not about being a fashionista.This is about fascism.
Dunkin Donuts, what were you thinking? Are you really that afraid of bloggers and social media that you think your business could be damaged because of a scarf?
You aren't even selling the scarf. You're selling an iced latte.The scarf was just an accessory.
I looked at the ad. I didn't see terrorism. I just saw a scarf with a lot of fringe. My guess is 99% of the people who looked at this ad saw a scarf with fringe- and that could be a reason to pull the ad -- the product placement gets a little lost with all that fringe competing with the Dunkin Donuts drink.
But the ad didn't get pulled because of that. It got pulled for being the 2008 version of a wardrobe malfunction.
Some confessions. No one has ever accused me of being fashion-forward.
Until yesterday I had never heard of the word Keffiyeh--I know I should have known this word but I didn't. It's a good word to know. Glad I've learned it. If you don't know what makes a scarf a Keffiyeh you can check it out here.
Until yesterday, I didn't know that Rachel Ray had a scarf thing.
Until yesterday I didn't know she sold them on her website.
Until yesterday I did not know those scarves came from Urban Outfitters
Until yesterday,I wasn't aware that Urban Outfitters was involved in a Keffiyeh controversy last year.
Oh, and until yesterday I didn't know that conservatives had a problem with people wearing scarves with fringe.
Or maybe its people wearing scarves with fringe that is purchased at Urban Outfitters.
Would anyone being seeing anything other than a scarf if the conservative pundits didn't have an existing bone to pick with the business practices of Urban Outfitters? I don't think so.
So to make any sense of Dunkin Donuts decision you have to understand what the conservative bloggers maintain is a mainstreaming of a symbol of terrorism -- the keffiyah. Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs launched the first attack on Dunkin Donuts last week in a post call mainstreaming terrorism to sell donuts.
The kaffiyeh was made most popular by the late Yassir Arafat. He wore it draped around his head in the shape of historic Palestine throughout his years of participation in the resistance movement, then as president of the Palestinian National Authority.
The Palestinians have endured decades of brutal colonial occupation and exile. Their heroic struggle for freedom has inspired people around the world. Thousands of women and men, young and old, now wear the kaffiyeh proudly as a symbol of resistance and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
Ms. Malkin then linked to Mr. Johnson's post and added her own spin in The Keffiyeh Kerfuffle ( oh, another confession. Kerfuffle is not part of my every day language and I did double check with MW online as to its exact meaning. Usual Spelling: carfuffle.chiefly British: disturbance, fuss). It seems that Ms. Malkin has major issues with all the people who wear these scarves.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Spain’s Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, and Hollywood darlings Colin Farrell, Sienna Miller, and Kirsten Dunst, and rapper Kanye West have all been photographed in endless variations on the distinctive hate couture. So has Meghan McCain,daughter of the GOP presidential candidate, who really ought to knowbetter given that her dad positions himself as the candidate best equipped to “confront the transcendent challenge of our time: the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.”
Of course the only way all these people would be wearing the offensive scarf is if retailers sold them.That's where Urban Outfitters comes in. They sold a lot of them. Pamela Kirkland at the University of Pittsburgh wrote about the connection last Decemeber.
Fashion is no stranger to
