abercrombie: no warm bodies in the brains department, but damn those abs. so, abercrombie is in some shit . surprise. after the various t-shirt fiascoes of the past few years, minorities (and other offended parties) have finally struck back at the white bread retailer.

"a group of hispanic and asian plaintiffs sued abercrombie in june 2003 in san francisco, alleging the retailer hires a disproportionately white sales force, puts minorities in less-visible jobs and cultivates a virtually all-white image in its catalogs and elsewhere."

say what? abercrombie promotes a virtually all-white image? can it be? a clothing company referenced in a trashy yet catchy pop song by a lou pearlman group? i don't even know how abercrombie stays in business having to shell out money for settlements every other quarter. oh i know how. they make billions by promoting an all white image, amazing.



has everyone here been into an abercrombie? how many minorities have you seen in the stores? minus the token minority at the cash register, there's probably only a few in the back doing laundry and shucking peas -- part time. i, for one, have never bought or worn anything from abercrombie. not because i'm offended by their clothing and image but because i'm offended at the prospect of paying a hundred bucks for something that was clearly marked up and will clearly not fit onto my asian frame. well, the male stuff anyway.



i'm also easily intimidated by the gorgeous looking models on the store walls. and those coveted bags. as far as i'm concerned, those bags are emasculation served up in totable form. any self respecting man should always ask for his abercrombie purchase in a brown paper bag. i mean, how can you hope to compete with those adonises on the bag? if only i could somehow just wear the bags, then i could get some attention. so, between the prices and the "i'm way better looking than you" factor, i have had no reason to ever shop at abercrombie. then again, this combination also serves to turn me away from most retail stores. but hey, that's why my wardrobe consists of white t-shirts from costco.



i wonder if people can now sue other stores for failing to hire people who don't conform to their image. mr rags failing to hire computer geeks? lawsuit. gap won't hire your hot topic wearing ass? lawsuit. forever 21 won't give your frumpy look a chance? lawsuit. foot locker won't put your 400-lbs behind the counter? lawsuit. the possibilities are endless.



as much as i think what abercrombie does is terrible, i feel like they should be allowed to promote an all white image. some companies promote an all black, all brown, all yellow, all whatever image. that's their prerogative. if they want to be known as "that white store" or "that black store," that's cool with me. nobody should be forced to hire based on appeasing everyone. "but that's discrimination!" yeah, it probably is. but a certain amount of marketing induced discrimination i'm fine with. marketing is image and why should people be forced to bring on "talent" that goes against their image? if you hate what a certain store or brand represents, boycott it! if you thought that tommy hilfiger didn't like your asian ass (not true) then stop wearing his shit. it's that simple.



discrimination is denying me a chance to work if the color of my skin would have no effect on your company or my effectiveness. discrimination in any quantity is serious but there are some fights i just don't have the time for. getting minorities into high-profile retail positions at abercrombie isn't high on my list of things to start a crusade about. hell, if i walked into an abercrombie staffed entirely by minorities, i'd probably walk right back out since the wait staff clearly doesn't know anything about the true spirit of abercrombie. give me white, give me good looking, give me the real abercrombie.