No fat ugly people wanted!

[Alistair]

Are we going to have checkpoints at the store front to keep all the ugly fat people out?

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-explains-why-he-hates-fat-chicks/

Discuss

[gsdx]

Good-looking people only? From a quick Google images search, it appears to me that he would be stopped at the door.

[eastofeden]

Suddenly anyone who would shop or work there is completely unattractive to me.

I really hate when anyone defines beauty for me.

I was born to two "beautiful people"...they were insane sadistic assholes from hell and just about as ugly inside as anyone could be. I am grateful to them, however, as they gave me a front row seat to the truth about "beauty" and thanks to them I avoided the usual pitfalls I see so many other people fall into.

[zoltanspawn]

Good-looking people only? From a quick Google images search, it appears to me that he would be stopped at the door.

Jeffries is uglier where it counts more.

[frankfrank]

Why would ANYBODY want to work there? Where is the job security?

Oh, we don't like your new haircut - YOU'RE FIRED!!

Oh, we see that your 30th birthday is coming up Wednesday. You're too old. YOU'RE FIRED!

Because you slipped on the ice, and tore a gash on your face, and you now have a scar, YOU'RE FIRED!

[crimsonpaine]

Sounds to me he might have just opened himself up to lawsuits. Just takes 1 unattractive person to apply for a job and get turned down. Use this against A&F and have made case of discrimination.

[Callum]

I don't own any of it. But, it looks cheaply made, overpriced, the models look like HGH-pumped 16 y/o boys...and, well, he's a sight for sore eyes.

I also recall reading an article saying Abercrombie was financially tanking.

[MoufOfKhaos]

I don't know where the outrage lies - this has been what they're been striving for, for YEARS.

[Adrusek81]

Are you sure that this isn't some sort of spurious campaign made by their competition to damage their brand? I find it VERY hard to believe that anyone could be that impossibly vapid, superficial and, above all, stupid. Surely, this is a joke or something of that sort. If it isn't, they need to send their marketing team back to the doctor who performed their lobotomies, so that they can try to reassemble their brains with the pieces they took off. It's obvious that the original procedures didn't work.

[MoufOfKhaos]

Are you sure that this isn't some sort of spurious campaign made by their competition to damage their brand? I find it VERY hard to believe that anyone could be that impossibly vapid, superficial and, above all, stupid.

Hi. Is this your first time on the internet?

If so, welcome, and take a seat.

[gsdx]

Are you sure that this isn't some sort of spurious campaign made by their competition to damage their brand?

Nope. Mikey's doing it all by himself: http://www.businessinsider.com/aberc...stomers-2013-5

[Adrusek81]

Nope. Mikey's doing it all by himself: http://www.businessinsider.com/aberc...stomers-2013-5

Wow! And this guy somehow managed to become a CEO? If such an effing idiot can, I'm sure that even a squashed slug could... Thinking it over, given the state of the economy and the shenanigans of corporations and financial institutions, I am inclined to believe that those people are even less intelligent than squashed slugs. Only this guy;s intellect is at the level of amoebas. What an utter and complete wanker.

[zoltanspawn]

I for one do believe in a certain very mild form of voluntary eugenics. Every time I go into the inner city, I always see women with not-so-great clothing and attitude having a kazillion kids, all in not so great conditions. The more unattractive they look and economically unsuccessful they are, the more kids they seem to pump out. This isn't my opinion. This is a fact.

So, again, I know a lot of politically correct people want to weigh in by now. And I say to you I will measure my own standards against yours any day to see who's lower. I'm honest about it.

Everyone has been very quick to point out that the CEO of Abercrombie isn't very good looking himself. And I say to you I don't think the man's goal is to aim at the most beautiful of beautiful people. His standards are probably way way lower than yours will ever be. The difference is he's honest about his standards and you're just lying right through your teeth just to be politically correct.

Every bit of malice and mean-ness isn't representative of the truth, and every kind reflection isn't somehow fake.

It's the honest truth that I think there are lots of fat people who are cool and good-lookin'. It's the honest truth that there's a certain amount of personal opinion involved in what makes people beautiful.

Jeffries' malice isn't a good version of the truth, it's a way to sell clothes. If that accords with your outlook, gross.

[ronboy]

...and those of us who are fat guys have Casual Male Big and Tall!

Exclusionary tight-sphinctered fuckers with their pert little noses up their anorexic asses.

I can't walk by their store in the mall without sniffing their crappy androgynous cologne wafting from inside their little club house.

If they really think that ad is going to attract customers, I wouldn't want to patronize a business with that mindset. And it's really their loss because I have money to spend. Thankfully, I will never spend it there.

Sorry A&F, but your biased, prejudiced view does not meet my standards.

[Telstra]

Its a business.
Why don't you argue against Miss USA or Miss Universe or Victoria secrets or the fashion industry in general ?

[eastofeden]

^^^(zoltanspawn)^^^ It has always been really weird for me to watch other people try to define beauty for everyone else...or hear people rate other people....or think their personal POV/opinion is the truth for anyone besides them. Working in a gay nightclub I got to hear it every night. I had to figure out a way to be true to myself without alienating my customers so I thought about it and I decided when someone asked me how they look or what I thought of this haircut or that shirt...this is what I said:

If I like you...I think you look great....period. If I dislike you...I think you look ugly...period. You could be a supermodel or 500 pounds with pimples...I don't care. If I don't know you...for me it is like looking at a field of cows. Everyone kinda looks the same until they differentiate themselves with their personality or attitude...and until that happens...just another cow in the pasture.

That worked...and I meant it. That is THE TRUTH... though my eyes. It doesn't have to be the truth for anyone else.

[MoufOfKhaos]

Think of them as like any specialty store that only sells certain things. A&F only sells clothes for fit, skinny people. Obviously, popularity doesn't truly matter, as anyone can go in there and buy clothes -- even fat people if they're buying for others. They can't check to see how popular you are before they ring you up (not yet, anyway). Their views may be bitchy, but so what? That's their business and that's how they get their edge. Someone wearing their clothes can feel special and like themselves for it. It isn't really all that different from girls who buy sexy outfits at the hooker stores, or ghetto fabulous people who buy their clothes that make them look like gangsters at the ghetto fashions stores that you see in every mall. Or the goth people and their clothes at Hot Topic (if that's even still goth anymore).

The difference between Hot Topic and Ambercrombie is that one is a certain style that may or may not be exclusionary, and the other is openly trying to exclude.

(side note, Hot Topic is about as goth as a lollipop these days)

[pat grimshaw]

Any criticism of this US clothes retailer can also be made at JUB.

We don't have enough fat, ugly people on JUB's porn pages. But there may be plenty of fat, ugly people writing in on JUB's Hot Topics pages.

[borg69unimatrix]

I wonder if this ad is some kind of reverse psychology?

People want what they can't have, and they hate to be excluded. No one wants to be thought of as second class, or second choice.

Maybe an ad like this would drive a lot of "fat ugly" people with low self esteem into the store to buy their product. Marketing often shows clothing on perfect models giving "normal/average" (non-models) the false impression that they will look just as good in the clothes. I couldn't tell you how many clothes I've bought because I thought it was Hot on some one else.

[MoufOfKhaos]

So what? They want to do something a certain way. Like I said, they aren't purposely stopping people from shopping there -- they're just not making clothes for fat people. They might also be having standards for who can work there, but that's part of their image. They want attractive people in there to attract other attractive people. It's a business ethic.

So what? Maybe the way they are going about their "standard" of beauty reeks of discrimination, which is why people don't like it. Going back to your comparison that you EASILY discarded, Hot Topic caters to a certain audience WITHOUT pressuring those that don't fit the mold they're looking for to look elsewhere; that's what you call a good business model. Ambercrombie... they could give a fuck. And it's hurting them already, and this recent spat will only hurt them more. I can't WAIT for the man to clarify that whole "All-American" thing, because porn has jaded me into thinking that he might mean more to that statement than meets the eye...

Want to ruin their business? Tell everyone to get fat! I highly encourage it. The president's wife, Michelle Obama, is on a mission herself to make everyone super skinny. She might as well be a spokesperson for Abercrombie & Fitch.

Wanting everyone to be HEALTHY means she's a spokeswoman for Ambercrombie? I gotta admit, that level of stupidity takes some gargantuan balls.

If everyone started getting fat, and it became the norm, Abercrombie & Fitch would change their ways. They'd start making those fat clothes.

Or maybe he'll be happy to cater to the 1% that decide not to be fat. Until the fat people rush all the super skinny twinks... and start eating them.

[pat grimshaw]

...If everyone started getting fat, and it became the norm...

It is the norm. Now.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88H0RA20120918

[Benvolio]

Sounds to me he might have just opened himself up to lawsuits. Just takes 1 unattractive person to apply for a job and get turned down. Use this against A&F and have made case of discrimination.

I think he is trying to anticipate discrimination lawsuits and position the company to defend by arguing that the company only wants attractive customers and has so advertised. The unfairness of the discrimination laws is that they totally disregard the needs of the business.

[Levi1982]

Evidently he wasn't a "cool kid" in school - so he made his own group where he could get in..................I'll pass!!!

[Alistair]

The difference between Hot Topic and Ambercrombie is that one is a certain style that may or may not be exclusionary, and the other is openly trying to exclude.

(side note, Hot Topic is about as goth as a lollipop these days)

My sister bought my birthday present from Hot Topic, I threw it away. I wouldn't even make the less fortunate wear something from there.

On the topic, it really does echo the feelings of a lot of the "cool kids" and isn't anything new for his company. I think it's the first time he's actually voiced it. I just won't shop there because the place is overpriced. I'm not going to be a label whore just to look cool.

[zoltanspawn]

I don't think people need to whine.

Why are you "whining", then?

Anyone could start up a clothing business dedicated to beautiful fat people. As I said earlier, Lane Bryant is such a business. Does Lane Bryant sell clothes to skinny people? Why not? Why aren't people attacking these stores for big people and demanding that they sell clothes for skinny minnies?

Does Lane Bryant make the connection that AF does: that skinny people are NOT cool or beautiful?

[Alistair]

So what? Maybe the way they are going about their "standard" of beauty reeks of discrimination, which is why people don't like it. Going back to your comparison that you EASILY discarded, Hot Topic caters to a certain audience WITHOUT pressuring those that don't fit the mold they're looking for to look elsewhere; that's what you call a good business model. Ambercrombie... they could give a fuck. And it's hurting them already, and this recent spat will only hurt them more. I can't WAIT for the man to clarify that whole "All-American" thing, because porn has jaded me into thinking that he might mean more to that statement than meets the eye...

I agree, I remember all the controversy 20 years ago when A&F put out one of their soft core porn catalogs with nothing but white guys and girls in it

[zoltanspawn]

That's not the point. The point is -- they still don't make the clothes for skinny people. Maybe they don't openly say, "Skinny people aren't as cool and beautiful as fat people," but so what? Abercrombie has a not so nice way of explaining why they don't make plus sized clothing. Lane Bryant just goes, "We're strictly for plus sized people only." But Abercrombie's explanation caters to their image. They want to appeal to people -- probably psychologically, as borg69unimatrix said. They want to look like elitists. Saying what they say will bring in people who wanna feel superior and perfect. If it backfires, it backfires, but I don't see why they can't even attempt it. Hell, stuff like that might work better at making people be skinny than Michelle Obama's plans. That's getting real emotional with people. That's flat out saying, "You can't be cool unless you're thin."

The part of your post which I've bolded is where you address my criticism:

That AF suggests fat people are not cool or beautiful.

What I'm saying about that suggestion is that I think it's malicious.

Obviously, people are at liberty to be malicious, or at liberty to use malice as their chosen business practice, right?

[Telstra]

Anyway,
the A&F owner is ugly beyond belief because of his surgery/look.

[Draven]

Gene Roddenberry called; he wants you to return your homeworld.

[Durango95]

Is it just me or do these two favor?

[zoltanspawn]

Now, if they started hanging up posters in their windows that shockingly said up front to people that fat people were nasty and did not deserve to be in their stores -- let's say they made advertisements that ridiculed fat people -- THEN I would be outraged. But even then, I would wonder if it was truly all that bad.

Isn't it truly all that bad to ridicule fat people?

[JPGhost]

This guy is judging me? Please.

He is a mutation of good looking people. You know..like his good looking gene mutated

[JPGhost]

Is it just me or do these two favor?

She is also mutating..

to be...

[GamerBear]

Title totally reminded me of JUB back in the days...

[blackbeltninja]

How is this news?

I recall this being a discussion here in HT when I joined JUB back in Jan 2006.

-d-

[Rayvontae]

Hell, I wasn't planning to buy any of their clothes anyway. I'll keep my fat ass at Burlington.

[rareboy]

This guy is judging me? Please.

^ Hopefully he doesn't get too close to an open flame. Fact is, A&F is a dying brand.

[kgeo1960]

Cookie cutter people, cookie cutter clothes. Seen one you've seen them all. Sort of like the Bel Ami models, cute but really boring. Give me someone who doesn't fit the mold any day, usually they have an interesting story to tell, if you slow down long enough to listen.

[ShihTzuTylenol]

dude, "fat ugly people" is not the preferred nomenclature anymore. Please, call them Morbidly Obese Americans

[blackbeltninja]

^ Hopefully he doesn't get too close to an open flame. Fact is, A&F is a dying brand.

At 25 squids for a pair of uninspiring and mass produced unflattering non-designer-label boxerbriefs, I'm not surprised.


-d-

[nycguydowntown]

the CEO is fucking ugly--so I guess he can't buy his company's clothes---there is nothing worse than bad plastic surgery on a dude---they always look like man-girls.

[racer2438]

Their crap sucks and is way over priced......and he is one to talk about ugly people......a 2x4 could not slap the ugly off his face...

you can't fix stupid..............

[kayman23]

This guy is judging me? Please.

He looks like he was hit in the face with a sack of "what the fuck". Damn, he is one ugly ass son of bitch!

[palbert]

See change.org for a petition regarding these unfortunate statements.

http://www.change.org/petitions/aber...s-of-all-sizes

Petitioning Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries: Stop telling teens they aren't beautiful; make clothes for teens of all sizes!

For more background: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/break...8890.html?vp=1

[Willie Boy]

I'm confused (and that don't happen often)....... But he mentioned that skinny, beautiful people are the "all-American" standard? How can this be when news outlets all over the US keep telling us that the new generation has a greater tendency to be obese, that there is an epidemic in America?

[Sha-Rok]

Have we not paid attention to the advertising around that store? Hell they have shirtless models standing outside of there store.

[altlover85]

I don't know where the outrage lies - this has been what they're been striving for, for YEARS.

I think the fact that it was spelled out in such a direct and nasty way is what bothers people. But again, I thought it was always sort of known that that was what they were going for.

I just won't shop there because the place is overpriced. I'm not going to be a label whore just to look cool.

I feel the same way.

[Kulindahr]

Anyone who lets his/her body go into unhealthy realms is ugly, regardless of age, size, or shape.

Health is beauty.

[G-Lexington]

I thought this was precisely what gay guys liked about the shop...? If you've got the clothes, you've got the A&F seal of approval, if you will.

I haven't been in the shop in eons, and I've never bought anything from there. Never tried anything on, really, since nothing there appealed to me at all. Then again, from what I understand, none of it would have fit my fat ass, anyway. Looks like we're happy being a mutually exclusive set.

Lex

[BFizzle]

I don't necessarily agree with it, but it is his business, and he's obviously very successful. This is kind of like the whole Chic-fil-A thing from last year. It's been their policy for years, but nobody really knew about it or made a big deal until he stated it in an interview. They will refuse applicants if they don't think they're attractive enough. One of my best friends works there.