Join Matt Conroy and Steve Cody as they debate the outcry over Abercrombie + Fitch's controversial sales policy. Watch as moderator Ted Birkhahn flails helplessly in an attempt to keep both combatants from engaging in fisticuffs in this latest installment of PepperView ("Where frank talk is never out of fashion."):
Oh, and feel free to post your comments in support of Steve's far more open-minded POV.
Thanks Peter – hope you are well!
I don’t disagree, Peter. To be honest, I was really standing up for A&F’s First Amendment rights to say whatever they please in their marketing (as long as it doesn’t threaten national security or promote a product that is unsafe, etc.). But, I agree the CEO is a dunce and their response was way to slow in coming.
Repman, I think Matt served you on this one. While I agree that there’s an element of hypocrisy to the backlash (many brands do this), A&F’s CEO was dumb to put himself out there — albeit in Salon seven years ago which no one read. He and his brand deserve to learn what a b—-h that payback can be.
A&F hasn’t been anywhere near the kind of aspirational brand Rolls-Royce is for at least 50 years. They slug it out with American Eagle.
Matt, the last time I saw you was when you bravely walked away from the sociopath who made everyone’s life miserable. Glad to see you toiling at a place worthy of your talents.
“Trust me, Julie. We are keenly aware of the testosterone-heavy panel, and do intend to include many more members of the distaff side moving forward. In fact, an invitation to debate the topic was sent to our entire staff. The three middle-aged guys you see on the video were the only ones who responded to the clarion call. We’re hoping for a more gender-balanced group of debaters moving forward. And, for the record, I believe A+F has really muddled its message. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on one target segment of the population. Most brands do. They’re just a lot smarter, and less heavy-handed than A+F (pun unintended).
Nice video; enjoyed the lively debate. Please try to include a female voice on the next one :-).
In addition to everything else that has been said regarding the A+F controversy, it doesn’t make much business sense to exclude a very large (no pun intended) percentage of the population (those of us above a size 2).
Isn’t making money for your shareholders the primary objective of any corporation? This A+F policy encourages folks to drop their money elsewhere.
Fantastic discussion. I think the great Matt Conroy takes this one, hands down.