Columbus Crew SC five days ago unveiled a new third jersey at City Hall. It was a public-relations coup on two levels.

Columbus Crew SC five days ago unveiled a new third jersey at City Hall. It was a public-relations coup on two levels.

One: It is a wonderful pander. The new kit incorporates the colors of the city flag and, coming off last year's rebranding, it furthers the team's effort to have "a powerful and bold connection between Club and City." The effort is called "Authentic Columbus." The hashtag is #ForColumbus.

That is good PR.

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Two: A goodly number of Crew fans have greeted the new kits with a hard slide-tackle, studs-up, two-footed, from behind. It's as if the Crew suddenly is surrounded by Pepe, Roy Keane, Claudio Gentile and, say, Jack Tatum, before they've had their morning coffee.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad PR.

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Samplings from Twitter and other forums:

Whoever is responsible should be shot in the sun. ... Hideous. Are we getting sponsorship from Ronald McDonald now? ... Who gave the first graders a box of markers? ... YIKES. That's the best I can come up with. ...

I could go on and on, but most of the comments are not fit for a family newspaper and, anyway, we don't have the space.

The details in the jersey are brilliant. The City Seal is stitched inside the chest, facing the heart. There are 17 gold stars inside the neck tape, stars that come right from the flag and represent Ohio's place as the 17th state. The jock tag (bottom left of jersey, where the size tag is stitched) is a mini City flag.

Another Twitter comment: "Maybe everything should have been placed on the inside."

One problem is the Columbus flag presents a difficult color scheme - gold, light blue and white - with which to work. The jersey itself is not awful. Yellow stripes gradating over a white background is not a brutal look. The red Adidas striping at the shoulders and down the sides is tough for some fans. The Chicago Fire, D.C. United and New York Red Bulls, among others, wear red. The Crew should never, but the flag-red has to go somewhere.

The Crew made another impressive PR move in wake of the backlash when they Tweeted a Jimmy Kimmel-like "Mean Tweets" video featuring Michael Parkhurst, Gaston Sauro, Justin Meram, Wil Trapp and Ethan Finlay. I chuckled throughout the four-plus minutes watching the players absorb, parry and riposte the criticism. Finlay, by the way, should be a guest on the Kimmel show.

Here is what gouged the eyes of many, including me: periwinkle shorts.

Periwinkle is the furthest thing from Black & Gold in the entire spectrum. Periwinkle conjures Blue's sidekick from "Blue's Clues," a kitten. It is possible to look at the jersey. It is even possible to consider purchasing one. It is another thing to force Hudson Street Hooligans to watch their favorite team in periwinkle shorts.

Let us chill. Black & Gold will remain the dominant look. The new kit will not be worn every game, and maybe not even every third game - unless, of course, periwinkle shorts make the team indomitable.

Crew owner Anthony Precourt: "It's a one-year, bold adventure."

Finlay: "You know what? As long as you can rock it, that's all that matters."

True fact: The last time the Rolling Stones played Columbus, Mick Jagger wore a sequined tuxedo jacket, and, depending on the lighting, the color was periwinkle. That's the best I've got.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

marace@dispatch.com

@MichaelArace1