One Million Moms Boycotts Urban Outfitters for Lesbian Kiss Catalog Photo

By Daniel Distant, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, April 17, 2012

One Million Moms' newest campaign is highlighting Urban Outfitters, whose April catalog features two presumably lesbian women awkwardly kissing.

One Million Moms, a conservative values offshoot of the American Family Association, is boycotting Urban Outfitters for the lewd photo, which they claim is "geared toward teenagers."

"Before your child has a chance to read the newest Urban Outfitters catalog call to unsubscribe from their mailing list," urges the website. "The content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen who is the company's target customer."

One Million Moms boycott includes throwing away their catalog, calling the company to complain, unsubscribing from the catalog, and foregoing shopping at their outlets. Their goal is to force Urban Outfitters to "refrain from using this type of advertising in the future."

They also demand an apology.

This isn't the first time the clothier has garnered controversy for its portrayal of same sex relationships. In 2008, the company had to pull a t-shirt bearing the words "I support same sex marriage" from California stores. Numerous groups complained about the blatant propaganda, which led to Urban Outfitters scrapping the shirt.

Urban Outfitters has suffered from bad branding in general, being criticized by both conservative and liberal sides of the political spectrum. Last year, Miley Cyrus called attention to the company's CEO, Richard Hayne, who contributed $13,150 to Rick Santorum's political campaign in 2003.

Because Hayne supported Santorum, and Santorum supported traditional marriage, Cyrus demanded that consumers stop supporting Urban Outfitters. It worked: profits fell 7 percent in the following quarter.

Urban Outfitter's misfortune with branding doesn't end there. For the celebration of St. Patrick's Day in March, the company sold shirts reading "Kiss Me I'm Drunk or Irish or Whatever," which became widely criticized, even by members of Congress.

One Million Moms' boycott could exacerbate the clothing outfitter's problems, especially if they are successful in getting the shirt removed.

In their most recent protest against the "anti-Christian" program "GCB" or "Good Christian B------," the family values group of nearly 40,000 mothers succeeded in convincing big advertisers like Reebok, Old Navy, Olive Garden, Macy's and McDonald's to pull their commercials from the program.

One Million Moms had previously claimed that the show - which includes Christians watching pornography, encouraging sex out of wedlock, and visiting strip clubs - portrays Christians in a negative light.

The group is not always successful, however. Their recent campaign to remove openly gay TV personality Ellen DeGeneres as J.C. Penney's spokeswoman was eventually abandoned. Once the struggling chain of department stores released a statement saying that they "share the same values" as Ellen, One Million Moms relented.

Urban Outfitters has not yet responded to the outrage concerning the controversial photos.