Bullying has become a worldwide problem, where some teenagers go as far as taking their own lives because of the torment experienced. When reports of bullying are heard, most eyes fall upon callow teenagers who live to make people feel inferior; however, adults are just as capable of being ruthlessly mean to innocent people. Chief Executive Officer of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, has done an impeccable job of making anyone who does not fall under his category of the perfect teenager feel unworthy and useless all because he wants to prove he belongs with the “cool kids.”
Abercrombie has had a long standing history of trying to market to the “all-American” type people, by hiring real life interpretations of this stereotype to work in the stores and the perfectly photoshopped models on their shopping bags. Now, CEO Mike Jeffries has taken his need to market to the perfect type of person by refusing to put larger sized clothes in his stores.
Jeffries said, “We [Abercrombie & Fitch] go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude kid and a lot of friends.” Not only is this marketing tactic incredibly stupid, but Jeffries should be prepared to lose more of his market.
Unlike Abercrombie, other stores like H&M and Forever 21 market to a variety of people of all sizes. In past years, H&M and Forever 21 have already taken most of Abercrombie’s market, and this new marketing move proves that Abercrombie will continue to lose more and more of their market share.
The only thing this statement proved is that Jeffries is not better than teenage kids who enjoy making other people feel miserable. Jeffries said, “We [Abercrombie & Fitch] want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.” Jeffries refuses to put larger sized clothes in the stores for the fear that people who do not fall under Jeffries category of “cool and beautiful” will begin shopping at the stores.
In a country filled with variety, Jeffries’ need to be exclusive is no longer something people desire. This tactic could be because he was never one of the all-American cool kids and he now wants to prove that he is by making teenagers feel poorly about themselves. The marketing move really proves that Jeffries is desperate enough to make his image as some type of popular teenager by bullying other people through his company.
Jeffries has taken his need to be image of his company by undergoing extreme amounts of plastic surgery to make him appear like the perfect person to wear Abercrombie’s clothes. Now, Jeffries not only wants to market to a certain stereotype in America, but he wants to prove that he falls under this category. At 68 years old, Mike Jeffries continues to wear all Abercrombie clothes in order to get the message across that only a certain demographic should actually wear his clothes. But really, how many 68 year-old men actually wear Abercrombie & Fitch? If he wears that type of clothing, shouldn’t they at least change the marketing campaign so it’s less hypocritical? Or wait, are there some shirtless geriatrics flaunting their retirement-home six-pack on a shopping bag in some part of the country? Or maybe, this megalomaniac really just thinks he’s Prom King of the retirement home.
Jeffries’ plastic surgeries and insistence on wearing Abercrombie clothes illustrate just how willing he is to make a point that only a certain type of person can wear Abercrombie: snobbish, self-deluded twits.
In addition to not only creating clothes for a certain physicality, Jeffries also believes that people must fall into the right social order to wear the clothes. Jeffries has refused to donate unsold clothes to people in need, and instead the clothes are burned in order to further increase the company’s image as a store for the wealthy and physically-fit. Obviously, having homeless people showcase your clothing on a street corner is the polar opposite of having Kim Kardashian wear that same clothing; however, burning your clothes is just an inhumane waste of material.
Chief Executive Officer of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, has done an impeccable job of making anyone who does not fall under his category of the perfect teenager feel unworthy and useless all because he wants to prove he belongs with the “cool kids”. Jeffries proves that he is no better than than the juvenile bullies that roam the hallways of schools across the nation. Jeffries should use his prominent position to be a good example to his young customers, but instead he chooses to act like an immature teenager. So, when shopping for your back to school clothes in August or your summer clothes this June, you should act like the schoolyard bully yourself and pick Jeffries’ brand last — or better yet, just ignore him altogether.
