Urban Outfitters Is Making Money Off of a Hindu Deity

By Jamilah King Jul 08, 2014

It’s summertime, which means Urban Outfitters is financially and culturally obligated to piss off an entire religious community.

For the second time in as many years, the Hindu community is outraged over the retailer’s attempt to profit off of Lord Ganesha, a Hindu deity. Back in 2013, the store sold an awful-looking pair of Lord Ganesha socks for $8, inciting the wrath of Hindu community leaders. Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said: "Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not be wrapped around one’s feet."

So if not the feet, then maybe the entire body? The store’s now selling a duvet cover featuring an illustration of Lord Ganesha by artist Valentina Ramos that costs between $129 and $169. Here’s Zed once again, in a statement to Bustle, insisting that the deity is meant to be worshipped and "not slept upon."

Bustle’s Erin Myer summed up folks’ worst fears nicely by writing, "I shudder to think of all the 20-somethings dying to get their hipster racism on by flaunting this duvet in the middle of their Bushwick loft decorated with votive candles."