"In advertising, sex sells. But only if you're selling sex."
~ Jeff I Richards
Yesterday I got an email from a friend, who got it from her friend, who got it from her friend. It was written to Abercrombie & Fitch by a woman in my community and school district, and signed with her name, address, phone number and email address so that A&F can easily respond to her. I'm reprinting the letter without her contact information, and I encourage you to seriously consider her message.
"To Whom It May Concern:
The story starts off great. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon with my 12 year old daughter for a trip to Northbrook Court. I relished the one on one time with her, to experience her world, and to chit chat about her latest likes and dislikes. While she has been an avid fan of Abercrombie, your store for a ‘younger audience’, I have always detested it. The heavy perfume, incessant loud music, dark lighting and of course, photos on walls that always toe of line of inappropriate for their blatant sexuality. However, I tolerated it and even spent our fair share of hard earned money so my daughter could have an overpriced, undersized pair of Abercrombie jeans, t-shirt or denim shorts. Never again.
This trip to the mall, my daughter wanted to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F). Upon walking in the store, I was struck by the shocking pornographic images (attached). I immediately went to one of the sales associates who, when I inquired why we needed to be exposed to pornography, replied sheepishly “I know, we get a lot of complaints.” I then addressed it with the store manager and, he too, nodded in agreement but did try to share what I’m sure is your “company line”. This store is for “our more adult clientele”, he stated. Adult? Did he really just say that? Are you referring to this shirt that fits my 12 year old daughter as adult I asked? Further, I recalled to him, we had just been in and out of several other stores that cater to the tween/teen audience and not a single other store display such graphic images. Have you been in Forever XXI? No images there. In fact, Abercrombie and A&F take the prize. They alone stand out as displaying such sexualized images.
The attached image is truly most offensive. What does it teach our daughters? Your body is all that matters. Don’t expect any eye contact during intimate acts. How about lessons for our sons? Be in control. Don’t show your vulnerability.
Until I see evidence of A&F removing these images from your stores, we will not be shopping there and I will do my best to discourage my vast circle of friends and family to do the same. Negative word of mouth and perceptions of parents who make many of the purchasing decisions will not be good for your bottom line.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Julie K."
Here's the image that Julie is talking about.
Abercrombie & Fitch won't be surprised by Julie's letter. They've been getting lots and lots of press for their advertising tactics. Google "Abercrombie & Fitch advertising" and you'll see what I mean.
2003: "Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has stopped selling its sexually explicit Christmas catalog, saying its stores need the shelf space for its new women's fragrance line, A&FNOW. The company said it wasn't responding to pressure from any group." (full article here)
2008: "Police, saying they were responding to citizen complaints, carted away two large promotional photographs from the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Lynnhaven Mall on Saturday and cited the manager on obscenity charges." (full article here)
Abercrombie & Fitch has also been criticized for marketing push-up bikini tops to 7-year-olds, and for sexist messages on T-shirts, such as: "It's All Relative in West Virginia," "Who needs brains when you have these?" "Available for parties," and "I had a nightmare I was a brunette."
Regarding the soft-porn advertising, some will undoubtedly say that kids are exposed to images like this all the time - on TV, at movies, at the mall (hello, Victoria Secret!) and on billboards. This is real life, right? Get over it! Well, no. Victoria's Secret sells bras, so it makes sense that their ads show women wearing... bras. Are they oversexualized, airbrushed, Photoshopped misrepresentations of reality? Yes. But at least they feature the product being sold.
If you looked at the above Abercrombie & Fitch ad without knowing what it was for, you might think they were selling sex toys, Playboy magazine, or a strip club. You might not realize that they're selling t-shirts and shorts to the tween-through-college set. Sex sells. Abercrombie is making tons and tons and tons of money: sales for the 3rd quarter of 2011 increased 21% to $1.076 billion; U.S. sales were up 14%; international sales were up 56%.
They will not, however, be making it from me and my family.
