A VIRAL video showing the changing trends in Irish fashion and beauty has stirred up controversy by using a model holding a machine gun to represent 1970s fashion in the North of Ireland.
The video is part of WatchCut's '100 Years of Beauty' series and the Irish version has been seen almost 500,000 times so far.
The YouTube video features a model, supposed to represent the changing faces of women in the Republic of Ireland and the North of Ireland side by side using a split screen.
The short video sparked controversy for its representation of the 1970s, with the model representing the North with her back turned pointing a gun.
"We used a look inspired by women who were fighting in the Irish Republican Army," writer Josh Potter explained in a behind-the-scenes video.
Scroll down to watch the video...
"Whether or not we were glorifying violence or terrorism by including the IRA look was a question I asked of myself and I think we asked of each other."
"I wanted to use the look simply because it reflected the violence of the time period. I think we would have done a disservice to the project by leaving that look out, because that would have whitewashed a large part of North Ireland's history."
But the video caused controversy on social media, where Twitter users lambasted it as "offensive" and "stupid".
https://t.co/040QxNtNTi Apparently it was fashionable to hold a gun in the 1970s in the north? Wtf ? couldn't get anymore stereotypical!
— Emma O'Reilly (@Eliza_Sparklez) March 20, 2016
This is offensive & awful.100 Years Of Irish Beauty Shows The Divide Between Ireland And Northern Ireland https://t.co/KdnDo5WeBM @abagg
— Kylie Noble (@Noble_Kylie) March 19, 2016
The 100 years of Irish beauty video is incredibly stupid
— kar (@jangwoof) March 18, 2016
Hit play below to see the video for yourself
See More: 100 Years Of Irish Beauty, Featured, Newsletterr
