You know, I don't think this story is any worse than four-armed Spidey or Electric Boogaloo Superman or Teen Tony Stark or any other temporary story line. 

Six-armed Spidey was a two-issue gag in celebration of 100 issues, not an "event".  I wouldn't exactly compare that to any of the other publicity stunts you mentioned.  Nor would I suggest that the existence of previous bad publicity stunts somehow validates this bad publicity stunt.
*****

Care to tell me who in fandom knew it was a two issue gag at that time before the Internet?

Comic books have grown to be about stunts, from covers touting "this is not an imaginary story" to "in this issue someone dies" to "all new all different" to stories we have today.  The stunts have just become bigger, much as they have in television and movies.  Most entertainment media has followed this same trend of being bigger than before.

Yes, it is a stunt, but they go with the territory.

No one knew. But more importantly, no one wanted to know. We were simply content to be swept along by whatever the folk at Marvel (and DC) threw out for our entertainment. We were not so riddled with ennui that we greeted each new development with a feigned yawn and a moan of Well, we know this isn't going to last!

I just think that it is a temporary thing, at least until we see otherwise, and a new costume for a time isn't that big a deal.* Nothing to be uspet about

I think there are a lot of complaints that are very valid, but because of that, people might be finding more to complain about than warranted.

Like I said before, Spider-man wore the black costume for many years, on and off. That was before there was a huge outlet to complain.

*ALthough complaints that it is ugly or something are valid, I think, if you feel that way.  New readers I think, though, deserve to have their big moments too, even if it may seem like old hat to old readers.

Rob wrote: New readers I think, though, deserve to have their big moments too, even if it may seem like old hat to old readers.

New readers "deserve" nothing more than the best Spider-Man stories possible, accessible and appropriate for all ages.  That maroon and gold Spidersuit fits neither of those requirements.

How  a costume, even a different color, like tat is not accessible, or appropriate for all ages I don't know. This isn't Stripperella's costume.

As for best stories possible, well, we'll see.

shut up and deal

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I thought it was "shuffle up and deal".

Every issue is someone's first.  The costume is marketed as Spider-Man's "new" costume.  Not his "temporary for this story" costume.  It doesn't matter what the intent is down the road, we're dealing with the here and now.  Handing a new reader a Spider-Man wearing that nonsense (don't forget the new powers they've been hinting about) is not what I would classify as "accessible". 

"The Other" storyline that produced this madness is not appropriate for all ages. 

I suppose I might be remembering it wrong, but I could swear I remember a
panel of Tony handing Steve the suit and saying something about opting for
"basic black."

I haven't read those issues since they were published, so it's entirely possible you're right.

New readers "deserve" nothing more than the best Spider-Man stories possible, accessible and appropriate for all ages.  That maroon and gold Spidersuit fits neither of those requirements.

In all fairness, the costume would be a minor point if everything else was right...