Do you think that Urban Outfitters should pull the Navajo name off of their products? Also, do you think that putting the "Navajo" name on the products is disrespectful of their culture?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sydney's Current Event
In Flagstaff Arizona, the Navajo Government has been upset by the trademark violation and the disrespect being caused by Urban Outfitters. The Navajo Nation claims that putting the "Navajo" name on the products is disrespectful of their culture, and it associates the products with the Navajos. The Navajo Department of Justice has sent Urban Outfitters CEO a letter demanding them to change the name of the product due to the violation of a trademark that has already been established, and the insensitivity in naming the products after the Navajos.
Do you think that Urban Outfitters should pull the Navajo name off of their products? Also, do you think that putting the "Navajo" name on the products is disrespectful of their culture?
Do you think that Urban Outfitters should pull the Navajo name off of their products? Also, do you think that putting the "Navajo" name on the products is disrespectful of their culture?
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I think that Urabn Outfitters should pull the Navajo name off of their products because not only is it offensive to this particular tribe, but it is also false advertising. The clothing and "accessories" with the Navajo name on them do not come from Navajo people or culture. It's a sterotype of what "real indians" wear and use in their everyday lives. When in reality, thats not true at all. I also think that putting thier name on the Urban Outifitter products is disrespectful to the Navajo culture because it goes against their religious beliefs.If modesty and the process of moving on from depression and pverty from alcoholism, I think the last thing this tribe would want is to have their religion publicly disrespected and reminded and almost belittled of a tragedy that their culture is facing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura. I think that Urban Outfitters should not be able to use that name and I believe it is the right thing to do for the Navajo to stand up to this. It is wrong to put stereotypical designs on products and name it "Navajo" (people should google pictures). I especially think it is offensive to create a "Navajo" flask, because of the Native American's problems with alcohol. Urban Outfitters should remove the Navajo name from its items, as it is too stereotypical, and it is wrong to use their name without permission.
ReplyDeleteI think that if the Navajo nation does not like their name represented by clothing that offends them, they have every right to have the Urban Out fitter clothing company to change their name. Navajo is almost like a trademark and if you use a trademark without permission you can get fined or sued. I do not think that the Urban Outfitters were trying to be discriminatory against the Navajo when they put their name on certain items though because it was just a line of clothing that they decided to extend to include underwear and alcohol flasks.
ReplyDeleteI think Urban Outfitters must pull the name from their clothing. If someone has the rights to a name and that name is copyrighted in order for Urban to use the name Navajo they must get permission from the Navajo Nation who owns the right to the name. If Nike chose to make shirts about the Boston Red Sox they would need permission from the red sox in order to use the red sox's symbol which is copyrighted and owned by the red sox owners and the MLB. In that case Nike using the red sox symbol without it being approved by the red sox they are breaking a law. I feel that it is the same case for the Navajo Nation's name and Urban. Also it is being disrespectful and taking an unnecessary shot at the Native American culture with the alcohol flasks because it is thought that natives often have alcohol addictions, so why would Urban even make something so controversial it comes off as just mocking making fun of a serious disease.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Urban Outfitters should remove the Navajo name on their merchandise. I also agree with Sam that initially if Urban wanted to use Navajo as a trademark on their clothing, they should have consulted it with Navajo officials to get their approval before proceeding to have "Navajo" labeled on thier clothes. Not only is it wrong for Urban to use the Navajo name on their clothing, but the type of clothing Urban is advertising, flasks, contrasts with Native Americans' struggle dealing with Alcoholism. It is stereotyping and offensive to Native American culture for a tribe to be advertised on a clothing that promotes Native Americans as consumers of Urban's products such as the flask. It is disrespectfulto Native American culture to be associated with such merchandise and accessories that give false labeling of their culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone. I do think it is unfair that Urban Outfitters is using their tribe name without their permission. The Navajo tribe has a right to express how they feel and proceed how they see fit. They want their name removed from the clothing line, so it should be allowed. Also, since they have a history of alcoholism, it is very disrespectful to put the Navajo name on that particular product. Like any trademark, Urban Outfitters should have gotten permission straight from the tribe. I also think that if Urban Outfitters seeks to continue with the Navajo name on the clothing line, a percentage should go to the tribe. They could use whatever amount of money they could get their hands on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the previous statements. I believe it is very disrespectful of Urban Outfitters to put the Navajo name in a clothing line. Like Sam commented earlier in this post, the Navajo should have to give their consent in order to have their name as part of a clothing line. I agree with Alex that their name is like a trademark and without permission from the Navajo Native Americans it is very wrong to continue using the name. Although I agree with that statement Alex made, I somewhat disagree with what him when he said he didn’t believe Urban Outfitters was trying to be discriminatory when making the clothing line because it was just a clothing line that extended to underwear and alcohol flasks. I believe that they associated stereotypes of Native Americans into their clothing line. In the episode of 30 Days we watched in class, the man stopped at a Native American trading post. He later stated that many of the items sold in the store were not items Native Americans would actually have in their homes. I think this is also true of the clothing line. I believe that the designs of the clothes wouldn’t reflect Native culture which in the end makes the clothing line very disrespectful. Also, the fact that the clothing line includes underwear adds to the disrespectfulness.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with what people have said so far, but I completely agree with Michaela. I think that it is very disrespectful for the Urban Outfitters to include the name on the lines, but I do not think that they were trying to be disrespectful. It is a creative name, but the outfitters should have received permission from the tribe before placing their name on the clothes. I think that by not getting permission, it makes their action discriminative even if they didn’t mean to make it seem that way. The name should be removed from the clothes unless the tribe gives permission for the name to be on all of the lines, including the controversial lines such as the underwear and alcohol flasks. The Urban Outfitters was out of line by putting the Native Americans names on these lines without legal permission.
ReplyDelete