A&F's 'Sleazy' Marketing Tactics Object of Nationwide Ad Campaign

by Jody Brown
December 8, 2003

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(AgapePress) - Abercrombie & Fitch may have removed its nudity-laden "clothing" catalog from its outlets nationwide, but that didn't stop an Ohio-based pro-family group from taking the retailer's board of directors to task for promoting promiscuous sex among America's youth.

"How to Steal Clothes at Abercrombie!" Those are the big, bold letters posted across full-page ads in USA Today and Wall Street Journal beginning today (Monday). While that headline, which appears in ads purchased by the Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, is meant to grab readers' attention, it also intended to set the stage for the following scenario, presented for consideration to the board and management of clothier Abercrombie & Fitch:

"Imagine for a moment that we were to begin a campaign telling teenage kids how to steal clothes at Abercrombie!" the ad reads. "Why, you'd be indignant. You'd be righteously outraged. You'd cry that it was wrong, and immoral ... And you'd be absolutely right. But we'd just laugh and say, 'Oh, it's just harmless fun, youthful and spirited.'"

CCV contends that is exactly the same argument A&F is using when confronted about the content of its quarterly "magalogs," which feature partially and oftentimes entirely nude men and women in provocative poses. According to the pro-family group, A&F has used that marketing strategy to "kick down long-held community standards of decency" -- and in response to complaints from parents and concerned consumers, has simply described their brand as "just youthful and spirited." In fact, CCV says, the retailer has promoted a "carefully calculated plan to push an irresponsible sexual lifestyle" with every article of clothing it sells.

"Your intent is very clear. Your marketing strategy is transparent," CCV says in its full-page ad. "As a Board of Directors, you did your research, specifically defined a youthful market, then willfully began to strip away the innocence of children in your pursuit of profit."

The ad then proceeds to address each board member individually, by name, accusing them of using pornographic and "homoerotic" imagery as well as in-store photos depicting sexual activity to sell the A&F brand. It even accuses one board member of exploiting the visual nature of young boys and introducing millions of them to their "first taste of sexual addiction."

Boycott Continues
Along with many other pro-family groups, CCV has long urged consumers to boycott Abercrombie & Fitch because of the pornographic content of its catalog and its lack of concern for the negative effects of its marketing ploy. And despite A&F's recent decision to yank its Christmas quarterly from the shelves of its stores, it is apparent that CCV has no plans to retreat.

"We will continue telling the truth about what you are doing to as many as we can reach for as long as it takes," the ad concludes. "Understand that we don't want you out of the clothing business, we just want you out of the sex business."

While A&F has been reluctant to acknowledge the effect of consumers' boycott of its stores, Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the retailer's in-store sales had dropped 13% in November -- and that its stock value has dropped 16% since pro-family groups began the boycott. In addition, the recent trading volume of A&F stock is more than double the normal level.

Don Hodel, president of Focus on the Family, attributes those statistics to the nationwide boycott -- and the bad public relations coming as a result.

"Americans have over the past few weeks sent a message to this company that the sexual exploitation of teenagers to sell clothes is unconscionable," Hodel says in a Family News In Focus report. "Now [A&F] is starting to see the financial repercussions of its sleazy sales techniques.

"The boycott should and will continue until Abercrombie & Fitch either stops exploiting our children or goes out of business as the result of its refusal to stop exploiting our children," he says.