Most of the industrialized world
has recently been shocked!, furious! and disgusted! with Abercrombie’s CEO,
Mike Jeffries. Jeffries started as
CEO in 2008 and the general consensus seems to be that he’s a control freak, a
recluse and basically just a dick.
No big news there. He also
looks really creepy, with a Botoxed, statutory-rape-casual kind of style. Again, not particularly shocking for a
company specializing in selling g-strings to ‘tweens, manning its store
entrances with young, hairless six pack ab models and whose advertising is all
unabashedly child porn-esque.
There’s been some low-level grumbling about all of this over the
years. People got a little bent
out of shape when Jeffries said that “people said we were cynical, that we were
sexualizing little girls. But you know what? I still think those are cute
underwear for little girls. And I think anybody who gets on a bandwagon about
thongs for little girls is crazy. Just crazy!” But it all really blew up more recently when Jeffries,
talking about Abercrombie’s target customers, said this:
“In every
school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool
kids…. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive
all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people
don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong.”
And this:
“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.”
No-one could fathom, it seemed,
that a company in this enlightened day and age would actually purposefully snub
a whole slice of the population.
Change.org collected 68,000 signatures on a petition demanding that
“that Mike Jeffries issue a formal apology and Abercrombie start to embrace and
make products for all body types.”
The Women and Girls Foundation sent a delegation of girls to
Abercrombie’s headquarters in Ohio, who met with (and were later completely and
profoundly ignored by) Abercrombie’s top management. The media was outraged at the injustice of it all. The blogosphere went nuts. Coverage of Abercrombie’s transgressions
was ubiquitous.
Two things struck me about this
epic controversy. First, Jeffries’
“scandalous” statements, while blunter than how a CEO is supposed to speak in
mixed company, were hardly distinguishable from how Abercrombie has been
describing its business for years to its investors. And second, the protests and petitions and media coverage
and outrage that followed Mike Jeffries’ statements did more to bolster the
image Abercrombie has been trying to nurture than just about anything
Abercrombie could have done on its own.
Given a little more time to
polish and wordsmith, here’s how Abercrombie describes its business in its
annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:
The bread and butter of the brand
is Abercrombie & Fitch:
“Rooted in East
Coast traditions and Ivy League heritage, Abercrombie & Fitch is the
essence of privilege and casual luxury. The Adirondacks supply a clean
inspiration to this preppy, youthful All-American lifestyle. A combination of
classic and sexy creates a charged atmosphere that is confident and just a bit
provocative. Idolized and respected, Abercrombie & Fitch is timeless and
always cool.”
For the younger market, there’s Abercrombie
Kids:
Same idea,
except with a focus on the “privilege and prestigious East Coast prep schools”
instead of “Ivy League heritage.”
“Abercrombie kids aspire to be like their older sibling, Abercrombie
& Fitch. The perfect combination of maturity and mischief, abercrombie kids
are the signature of All-American cool.”
For West Coast wannabes, there’s
Hollister:
“the fantasy of
Southern California. It’s all about hot lifeguards and beautiful beaches. Young
and fun, with a sense of humor, Hollister never takes itself too seriously.
Hollister’s laidback lifestyle and All-American image is timeless and
effortlessly cool. Hollister brings Southern California to the world.”
And then, of course, getting back
to the ‘tween g-strings, there’s Gilly Hicks:
“the cheeky
cousin of Abercrombie & Fitch. Inspired by the free spirit of Sydney,
Australia, Gilly Hicks makes the hottest Push ‘Em Up bras and the cutest Down
Undies for young, naturally beautiful, confident girls. Carefree and undeniably
pretty, Gilly Hicks is the All-American brand with a Sydney sensibility.”
Mike Jeffries’ statement that “a
lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong,” is just
the flip side of the same vacuous marketing gibberish used in the Company’s
annual reports.
Abercrombie says that its
marketing strategy “emphasizes the senses to reinforce the aspirational
lifestyle represented by each brand.”
No different than any mid-market mainstream fashion company. The physical thing being sold is just
low-quality generic-looking junk.
What’s really being sold is an image. The word is sprinkled throughout all of Abercrombie’s annual
reports: “aspirational,” “aspirational,” “aspirational.” Any protester who is offended by
Jeffries saying that some people just “can’t belong” has already drank the
Kool-Aid and lost the battle. If you
think it’s true, you’ve bought the Abercrombie hype. It’s not that Abercrombie sells to kids that actually are
“confident,” “effortlessly cool” and “young [and] naturally beautiful.” It sells to every awkward kid within
100 miles of a shopping mall, every zitty dufus who wants to be all those things.
Everyone!
When Abercrombie officers and
shareholders read about all the protests and petitions and media coverage, they
must be beside themselves with joy.
For a company whose entire business model is dependent on creating an
air of exclusivity, what better brand reinforcement could there possibly be
than a loud chorus of people demanding that they be more inclusive? Every demand that Abercrombie change
its ways, every angry letter, every ranting blog and every store occupation is
an affirmation that Abercrombie has the nation’s attention and a marketing
strategy that couldn’t be working better.
Mike Jeffries is creepy and the
Abercrombie ads are gross and sleazy.
But Abercrombie is doing what companies do – trying to get attention and
making money. And those who are
screaming the loudest against it are doing the most to keep the aspirational
image alive.
(After leafing through all the pop-culture fury,
here’s what Abercrombie glances at with a smile)
