Kenneth Cole sparks outrage after bad taste egypt tweeter using Cairo riots to promote new collection

Kenneth Cole sparks outrage after bad taste egypt tweeter using Cairo riots to promote new collection

Shoe designer Kenneth Cole has sparked outrage after he used the political riots in Egypt as a platform to raise awareness about his latest collection.

The American footwear favourite tweeted about his new spring line using the tag Cairo in order to drive traffic to his online store.

He wrote: 'Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online.'

The tweet was followed by a link to his website and signed 'KC' indicating that the tweet was written by the designer himself, rather than a member of his publicity team.

Already 98 people have retweeted the message, which has caused anger among those following the violent protests in the Egyptian city.
There was no answer from Cole's press office today when MailOnline called for comment, but shortly afterwards he issued an apology, also via the social networking site.

'Re Egypt tweet: we weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment –KC.'
It seems the damage is done though, with followers of the designer vowing never to buy his shoes again.

Keep it classy @KennethCole. Never shopping there again. . . ,' wrote one.

Another said: 'You should be ashamed of yourselves @KennethCole ! How tasteless and insensitive! People are dying there!'

Today the military finally intervened in an attempt to try and stem the violence taking place in Cairo between pro and anti-Mubarak supporters.

One journalist has been killed and dozens more attacked as protestors target 'anti-government' news organisations.

Their violence came in response to an attempt to overthrow the 30-year regime of President Mubarak.

Today world leaders stepped up pressure on the current leader to stand down, and the U.N. said that the transition of power 'should begin now'.Read More ...

Posted in: advice, cole, egypt