Kenneth Cole Puts Well-Heeled Foot in Mouth

John Carney | @carney

Published 1:51 PM ET Thu, 3 Feb 2011 Updated 4:41 PM ET Thu, 3 Feb 2011 CNBC.com

Famously outspoken shoemaker Kenneth Cole says he writes all the tweets signed "KC" that come from the @KennethCole Twitter account.

Kenneth Cole on Twitter

Which means he has no one to blame but himself for the outrage over a tweet sent out earlier today claiming that the "uproar in Cairo" was the result of Egyptians finding out that the new spring shoe collection was available online.

*Read an important update to this story

He's now issued a tweet explaining that "we weren't intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment."

Sure. But he was certainly attempting to draw attention to the fact that his spring collection was now available online by connecting it to the serious situation with a not-very-funny joke. Fighting in Egypt has killed at least 10, with UN sources putting the death toll at closer to 300.

And, because of stories like this, it's probably working.