“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… A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
These sentiments were only a few of Abercrombie and Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries’ recent comments regarding his company’s target demographics that have spurred controversy around the nation. The 61-year-old bleach-blonde also made comments about the company’s tendency to only hire “good-looking people” because “good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and [Abercrombie and Fitch] only wants to market to cool, good-looking people.”
There are reports that one employee, Hani Khan, was not only ridiculed by colleagues, but ultimately fired for wearing a headscarf to work, a respectful symbol her Muslim faith demands. In addition, it is said that the company, rather than donating clothes that it wishes to do away with, burns them to avoid displaying their image on “the wrong people.”
The general public is not taking these offensive comments lightly. One man particularly upset about the whole situation is Greg Karber. Determined to “remake the A&F brand,” Karber has been encouraging people to donate Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to the homeless by posting a Youtube video handing out clothes of the brand. He has named this campaign “#FitchTheHomeless”.
The video has about seven million views to date. Though his intentions are clearly good, some people consider Karber’s approach to be problematic in that it can be viewed as an insult to the homeless population.
Greg Karber was not the only person who made an attempt to stand up to the company. Benjamin O’Keefe, an 18-year-old survivor of an eating disorder, started an online petition to challenge the CEO and his prejudiced remarks. The petition garnered about 68,000 signatures and managed to force an apology from Abercrombie & Fitch.
The company claims that they “sincerely regret and apologize for any offense caused by the comments made in the past which are contrary to (the values of diversity and inclusion).” Following the formal apology (which many still believe to be insincere), executives from Abercrombie & Fitch invited O’Keefe to come and meet with them. Perhaps the company has realized how desperately it needs to make a change.
