In case you needed another reason to avoid Abercrombie & Fitch

[RanchGirl]

Their CEO is surprisingly honest about their marketing strategy:

 

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-explains-why-he-hates-fat-chicks/

[Whereneverever]

I saw that. Ugh.

[MrsMommy]

I read that this morning. I think I'm going to go hang out at their stores, just because they don't want me there. I've never been one of the "cool kid," and I don't want to be!

 

It worries me, though, that this gross marketing strategy works. I'm not really surprised, but I am concerned.

[Dandelion]

From a business perspective, niche marketing is the way to go. But plenty of companies make it work for them without stooping to the level of this bonehead. :thumbdown:

[AimeeM]

I'm sure I don't have a popular opinion here.

I do not disagree at all about his right to market to whomever he pleases - I do think he could have worded it better or, even better, could have kept his mouth shut.

I guess I'm not seeing the big deal about the marketing niche as a whole. There are plus size only stores, after all.

 

He is an a*s for thinking there is some correlation between skinny and popular though. I've always been slender and (fairly) cute if I do say so myself (lol!) - never popular, lol.

[Whereneverever]

I'm sure I don't have a popular opinion here.

I do not disagree at all about his right to market to whomever he pleases - I do think he could have worded it better or, even better, could have kept his mouth shut.

I guess I'm not seeing the big deal about the marketing niche as a whole. There are plus size only stores, after all.

 

He is an a*s for thinking there is some correlation between skinny and popular though. I've always been slender and (fairly) cute if I do say so myself (lol!) - never popular, lol.

 

 

I don't think it's the niche he's chosen that is a problem so much as the mean way he has chosen to go about it. Plus size stores don't tell customers who are a different size then they stock that they are unpopular and unattractive for their body size.

[TravelingChris]

What a jerk. For that matter, Marilyn Monroe would be wearing a size 14 and she wasn't fat.

[Soror]

I think that is his right but boy does he sound like a jerk. He seems to attach value to a person based on the way they look, plenty of people do that I guess, most that do just don't admit it though.

[TravelingChris]

Oh, and I certainly don't have a problem with niche marketing. I wanted to have a store with very small sizes for my dd when she was younger- she now wears a 5, I think, so easier to find. But for that matter, even though, or maybe because, she was skinny, shapely, and beautiful, she wasn't popular. She was much more popular with boys (as friends) but not with girls.

[itsheresomewhere]

In high school many, many, many moons ago we used to refer to it as a& b****. I can't stand the smell of that store.

[Dandelion]

I don't think it's the niche he's chosen that is a problem so much as the mean way he has chosen to go about it. Plus size stores don't tell customers who are a different size then they stock that they are unpopular and unattractive for their body size.

 

Right. There's nothing wrong with marketing to a certain niche. Most successful companies do. But they do so without denigrating those that don't fit into their niche. That's completely unnecessary and uncalled for.

[AimeeM]

I don't think it's the niche he's chosen that is a problem so much as the mean way he has chosen to go about it. Plus size stores don't tell customers who are a different size then they stock that they are unpopular and unattractive for their body size.

Bingo

[MiniBlondes]

I read this earlier and was completely disgusted. I already disliked this company, but this was enough. The most irritating part is that their jeans are the only ones that fit my super tall and skinny 10 year old. She wears a 14 in their jeans... if that tells you anything. Ugh.

[k10coon]

The thing is, the niche he is marketing to is not simply based on clothing size. His niche is people who agree with his opinion.

[Forget-Me-Not]

So did anyone else Google his image after reading this? The guy has had so much plastic surgery he mildly resembles Joan Rivers.

 

A&F lost my business long ago when they sent me a catalog featuring a guy in bed between two scantily dressed girls. The hypersexualized little girls ' wear, the racist t-shirts, and now this are just further nails in the coffin. Oh, I also hate their larger-than-life semi-pornographic window displays (for a company that reportedly sells clothing, they feature an awful lot of naked or nearly-naked people).

[4mkfam]

So, is it weird that I read this quote:

 

"It’s almost everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,â€

 

in Derek Zoolander's voice? :huh:

 

"We only want ridiculously good-looking people shopping here. Not people who can't dress good."

 

Where's the Blue Steel smilie when you need it...

[Forget-Me-Not]

Wow, just an all-around nice guy.

http://www.queerty.com/creepy-abercrombie-ceo-made-male-models-squirm-on-company-jet-20121019/

 

Wish I could use the vomiting smiley on my iPad.

[Dandelion]

So did anyone else Google his image after reading this? The guy has had so much plastic surgery he mildly resembles Joan Rivers.

 

 

I did. The man is a freak and a half.

[Susan in TN]

A man with a small mind who lives in a very very small world.

[Laurie4b]

Wow. Just wow.

[renmew]

I have never ventured into his stores because I can't afford it, but now I might actually go in and walk my ugly, fat self around there on purpose.

[poppy]

Surprising to hear it said aloud by an executive, but, that thinking is Fashion Marketing 101. Really basic and has been true for many stores for decades. It's why high end fashion is almost never available in larger sizes, or many mall stores..... Victoria's Secret sizing stops at D cup.

[nmoira]

I'd never have been able to wear anything in that store even when I was a skinny-ish teen. My hips are too wide and my boobs are too ample.

[kitten18]

Wow, just an all-around nice guy.

http://www.queerty.c...y-jet-20121019/

 

Wish I could use the vomiting smiley on my iPad.

 

Yikes.

 

I can't believe he is 68, he's had his face sculpted into that of a 30 year old. He looks frozen.

[fairfarmhand]

ugh.

 

Makes me want to get together with some fellow fat people and picket the store. Just hang around...you know being fat and ugly. :)

[8circles]

I appreciate his honesty. I think more people than we realize actually think this way - if only they were all as honest. It's easier to brush it aside if it isn't so in-your-face.

[Parrothead]

Wow. With 2/3 of the American population over weight he sure is missing a lot of customers. And cool kids only make up as all percentage of high school populations.

 

The man is an idiot in more ways than one.

[lailasmum]

It's horrible. I have noticed that a few brands seem to be marketing to this group but don't say such obnoxious things. I have tried to buy blouses reacently from a few brands that I guess are aimed at the same market as A&F. Even the bigger end of their size range runs small and they don't allow much room in the bust, I am not all that big so they are definitely sending a massage about the type of woman they want shopping at their stores. I seems odd to narrow the market so much for that particular type of product.

[Dandelion]

I appreciate his honesty. I think more people than we realize actually think this way - if only they were all as honest. It's easier to brush it aside if it isn't so in-your-face.

 

I appreciate honesty too, but I don't believe you have to sacrifice professionalism and class in order to be honest.

 

He could have just ended his statement at "We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid." without going on to disparage those he calls not-so-cool and unattractive. At that point, he went beyond simply being honest to being rude and insulting IMO.

[Pawz4me]

I thought about Googling his pic but decided it's not worth my time.

 

And I never thought I'd say this, but -- I'm feeling rather thankful that my clothes snob (and handsome and thin) teen is so picky. A&F has never come close to being "in" enough to make his rather short list of acceptable labels. So I've managed to make it this far in my life w/o setting foot in one of their stores or giving them a dime of my money. Around here it seems to be more the "wannabe" cool kids who wear A&F rather than the truly cool kids.

[kewb]

He is not alone in his thinking and A & B is not the only brand that does not have larger sizes. He is, however, the only one being so nasty about it. Some designers have an image in their head about what type of woman they want to wear their clothes and only offer clothes in those sizes. When questioned they don't make disparaging remarks about the people they did not design for.

 

My hubby runs a t-shirt of the day type website for XL-6XL because he could never get cool geeky t-shirts in his size. He has this to say on the sites facebook page today:

As CEO of a company I'll take up a stance too just like Mr Jeffries. All people are entitled to really cool clothing and I'll also say that the definition of cool is certainly a variable. For instance I think WE carry really cool clothing. So, you know what Mr. Jeffries? You are the one that is NOT cool. But you can be. Open your mind. Expand your world.

[aggieamy]

I just googled his image. I don't think he's human.

[Joker]

We've never even been inside of one and now I definitely have no reason to go. Once, while shopping with oldest dd we almost went into one. She turned to go in, saw the giant poster of a half dressed dude, and walked out. It was actually quite hilarious. She's never asked to shop there since.

[tammyw]

I thought about Googling his pic but decided it's not worth my time.

 

And I never thought I'd say this, but -- I'm feeling rather thankful that my clothes snob (and handsome and thin) teen is so picky. A&F has never come close to being "in" enough to make his rather short list of acceptable labels. So I've managed to make it this far in my life w/o setting foot in one of their stores or giving them a dime of my money. Around here it seems to be more the "wannabe" cool kids who wear A&F rather than the truly cool kids.

 

So where do the truly cool kids shop? I'm actually kind of curious. Are there really stores where kids shop because they're considered cool?

 

I had to start buying dd10 her clothes at a&f because they are one of the few stores that sell bottoms that fit her. Disgusting that there has to be such ridiculousness around clothing. I really hate the idea of cool or popular kid vs uncool unpopular. Which is one reason I love homeschooling - kids have a greater ability of just being themselves.

[Chris in VA]

We won't buy their clothes, even at the thrift store.

No Billabong, either, but for different reasons.

Eh, free country. He has the right to be an a55. Too bad he feels he has to exercise it.

[mom31257]

Oh...he wants people to wear clothes, not just buy them?

[goldberry]

That is disgusting. I need to check my daughter's closet for thrift store clothes that might have that name on them. I showed the article to her and she was equally disgusting. (ETA, uh, disgusted.)

 

After reading that, I would never wear that name in a million years.

[Pawz4me]

So where do the truly cool kids shop? I'm actually kind of curious. Are there really stores where kids shop because they're considered cool?

 

Definitely. It probably varies somewhat by area, but around here Vineyard Vines and Collared Greens are currently the really cool places.

 

(And just for the record, the rest of us in this family are far from clothes snobs. DH and youngest DS would just as soon run into Target or Kohls and pick up whatever rather than put any effort into shopping. I tend to stick with Lands End. Everybody has their "thing," and wearing "in" clothes just happens to be oldest DS's.)

[justamouse]

I don't even allow my kids to wear Abercrombie from the thrift store. I despise them and how they sell ignorant judgmentalism as 'cool'.

[ailysh]

He has every right to market his company to whomever he chooses. And I have every right to not shop there. I've hated that store for years because of their marketing tactics, and I've always been in the niche (I suppose I'm probably getting too old now). Regardless, I've never bought a stitch of clothing there. We shouldn't be outraged at companies providing a product for which there is a market. Businesses exist to make money. We should be outraged at a society that keeps these companies in business. Don't shop there. And spread the word. That's all we can do.

[WishboneDawn]

I read that this morning. I think I'm going to go hang out at their stores, just because they don't want me there. I've never been one of the "cool kid," and I don't want to be!

 

It worries me, though, that this gross marketing strategy works. I'm not really surprised, but I am concerned.

 

So we need to start a Zoolander meme and all of us fat women need to dress in sweat pants and grubby t-shirts and hang around the entrance of a&b stores and praise the coolness of all who enter.

 

And I'm half serious because condemnation will only help the brand. Ridicule, however, would be a very effective approach.

[Joker]

So we need to start a Zoolander meme and all of us fat women need to dress in sweat pants and grubby t-shirts and hang around the entrance of a&b stores and praise the coolness of all who enter.

 

And I'm half serious because condemnation will only help the brand. Ridicule, however, would be a very effective approach.

 

 

You mean kind of like the Derelicte fashion line from Zoolander?

 

"Let me show you Derelicte. It is a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique." -Mugatu

 

:D

[LucyStoner]

Their attractive All American ideal also got them sued for racial discrimination. They didn't have even a token minority representation in their ads or sales staff. I believe they settled. And then started having the occasional ad with a models who appear to have maybe had a non-white grandparent or something.

[LucyStoner]

It occurs to me that he is likely losing the business of heavy set aunts and grandma's with the deep pockets needed to spoil their teenaged relatives.

 

As a business, they are slumping. Hopefully that will continue until he's sacked.

 

ETA: Anyone who voluntarily does this to his face is clearly very insecure and walks around with a lot of self loathing. I half feel sorry for him.

 

Only half though.

 

[Mergath]

He is an a*s for thinking there is some correlation between skinny and popular though. I've always been slender and (fairly) cute if I do say so myself (lol!) - never popular, lol.

 

I was positively skeletal in high school, and a complete loser. :p Even when I was in college and still thin and attractive (ah, how the mighty fall... lol) I wouldn't set foot in there. It's like shopping in a funny-smelling cave where they try to make your brain explode with the music. Um, no thanks.

[Parrothead]

That is not even a good lift. He still looks his age, and weird to boot.

[Susan in TN]

 

 

ETA: Anyone who voluntarily does this to his face is clearly very insecure and walks around with a lot of self loathing. I half feel sorry for him.

 

Only half though.

 

 

He's got great Movie Starlet lips! Maybe he can go into lip modeling?

[Shahrazad]

He's overcompensating.

 

ETA: In my cool high school years, I never shopped at A&F. Not my style at all.

[8circles]

 

 

I appreciate honesty too, but I don't believe you have to sacrifice professionalism and class in order to be honest.

 

He could have just ended his statement at "We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid." without going on to disparage those he calls not-so-cool and unattractive. At that point, he went beyond simply being honest to being rude and insulting IMO.

 

 

I agree that what he said is awful. I'm glad to know when other people have such opinions so I can better avoid them. When people have such awful opinions (and act on them) yet pretend they don't, its easier for others to not be bothered by it. I'm glad to know - now more people will be bothered, maybe it will make a difference.

[VeritasMama]

When we were in our early 20's, I dared my overweight, hairy husband to take his shirt off and go stand casually next to the shirtless model standing out side A and F. He is usually a sport, but he didn't do it. I still giggle thinking about what it would have been like.

 

This guy has been saying awful things for years, he operates like he is in high fashion, but he sells overpriced t-shirts to people who think a brand will improve their lives. He is delusional, as most people in fashion today are to a certain extent. So sad, society is going downhill.