Urban Outfitter's Cultural Appropriation Parody

By now, we can safely say that Urban Outfitters is best know for its "Navajo-style" everything, aka, using Native American culture as hipster fashion. The brand is the ultimate high street inappropriate appropriator, so this incredibly funny and astute video from sketch comedy group Stupid Time Machine hits the nail on the head with its parody ad for "Urban Outfitter's new We Are All Natives Collection - Indian wear for the rest of us". The blurb that goes with the video snarkily adds, "This Thanksgiving, let us all embrace the coy charm and original hipster style of the indigenous people our country displaced and killed by the millions." So you already know you're in for a real UO roast.

The video opens with some Vampire Weekend-esque, trendy, indie-style, drum-led music, and some "cute" hipsters in eclectic outfits gaily bounding down some stairs in what appears to be a fairly barren industrial area of a city. The voiceover says, "Let us give thanks for a new type of tribe," as a hipster pushes a Native American guy out of frame, and a purple-haired girl in a pink shaggy coat unfurls an American flag. The video then quickly devolves into a montage of Native American headdresses next to Urban Outfitter's range of records and record players, American Spirit cigarettes, beaded vests and "honoring heritage by making it sexy"—and making me laugh out loud, because it's so on point. Not only is the parody true of Urban Outfitter's egregious appropriation of Native American culture, it also highlights exactly how un-self aware UO wearers are, which to me is the best part of the joke. Watch below!

Image: YouTube