mcbride- journal

In the essay “Why I Hate Abercrombie” the author, McBride shows us how Abercrombie and Fitch have and still uses company policies to their advantage. Abercrombie has a “look” that must be maintained and by using “company policy” as an excuse Abercrombie is able to be very discriminatory in the employment process.

Abercrombie uses certain company policies to hire employees based on the AF “look” which inadvertently is white and upper middle class. The store tries to sell the idea of a certain lifestyle that goes along with their clothing, because really the clothing is the same stuff you could buy at JcPenneys. The label of A & F seems to give the clothes some kind of power, a feeling of belonging to whoever wears it. Abercrombie can’t flat out say no blacks or gays allowed that would be discrimination. What they have done is make company policies that denote the A & F “look.” These physical criteria include such things like banning certain styles that are prominent among different racial groups and the gay community. By doing this, they were able to discriminate when hiring without seeming like they were. Recently, it has been noted that there are a lack of people of color working in Abercrombie stores and some have actually filed lawsuits against the company for their unfair hiring policies and for having to conform to the “look.”

the article mentions briefly about other stores engaging in the same activities as Abercrombie, but I have to think that its actually done a lot more than we know. There are so many store brands that seem to be more about the label and what it supposedly represents than the clothing itself. Most brand name things are more expensive; just think Kroger brand vs. Kraft or General Mills. Since these stores sell their clothing for, way more than its worth, an extraordinarily high price, you have to have good finances to afford it. When an outrageous price is marked only people of middle to upper class are the only ones likely to afford it, and statistically that means white people. However, McBride does make mention of Ralph Lauren and says that they are different because their clothing is offered in department stores, not just Ralph Lauren stores. In department stores, like Dillard’s, the Ralph Lauren Company cannot control the employees who sell the product, it is the stores right to hire whom ever they see is the most qualified. If you have ever seen a Ralph Lauren advertisement though, you will probably still see the all-American look: young adults spending their free time at a country club or on a yacht. Another store, although completely opposite of what A & F stands for, is Hot Topic. Unlike Abercrombie Hot Topic does sell other brands besides their own, but they are all the same style. Hot Topic is geared toward the “Goth” crowd; most of their clothing is black or has chains on it. At the Hot Topic inside Westfield Franklin Park Mall, even the manager is what most people would classify as “Goth.” (She is very nice though) What I am saying is that its not just the “all- American look” that is being sold and marketed as exclusive. I shop at Hot Topic myself and I find their prices to be within reason but if I wore an Abercrombie shirt (which I would never do) into the store, I know that all eyes would be on me. They would all be thinking, “what’s the prep doing in here? She doesn’t belong here.” Hot Topic wants their employees and customers to have the Hot Topic “look”, just like A & F does, but it has never been so bad to were people want to file lawsuits against them.

Overall I thought this article was really interesting, although kind of difficult to read. McBride uses some very intense vocabulary and some of his sentences were very wordy. However, I was very interested in the information he was sharing. I have never taken a marketing class, but now I may reconsider because the information had a really powerful effect on me. I would have never noticed any of the things he mentioned on my own and neither would most people, so its definitely time for a change.