“Abercrombie is only interested in people with washboard stomachs who look like they’re about to jump on a surfboard.” ~ Robin Lewis, co-author of The New Rules of Retail

                   

Friday leftovers . . .

This guy ↑, Michael Jeffries (CEO of Abercombrie & Fitch), needs to be bitch-slapped—pronto. Even though the above comments were made in a 2006 interview with Salon, Jeffries stands by them today.

Great. Let’s perpetuate the myth that to be popular you must be a certain size, look a certain way, wear certain clothes. I am so tired of this crap. So tired of a world that plants seeds of doubt in young girls and boys and then fosters those seeds with slanted, biased media infusions.

He looks like Gary Busey, for god’s sakes. On purpose—For example, ask him why he dyes his hair blond, “Dude, I’m not an old fart who wears his jeans up at his shoulders.” He’s 68. Another prime example of plastic surgery gone wrong on a man . . .

According to the Salon article,

His biggest obsession, though, is realizing his singular vision of idealized all-American youth. He wants desperately to look like his target customer (the casually flawless college kid), and in that pursuit he has aggressively transformed himself from a classically handsome man into a cartoonish physical specimen: dyed hair, perfectly white teeth, golden tan, bulging biceps, wrinkle-free face, and big, Angelina Jolie lips. But while he can’t turn back the clock, he can — and has — done the next best thing, creating a parallel universe of beauty and exclusivity where his attractions and obsessions have made him millions, shaped modern culture’s concepts of gender, masculinity and physical beauty, and made over himself and the world in his image, leaving them both just a little more bizarre than he found them.

Another source states that Jeffries “also has a discriminatory hiring policy, which has been challenged on several occasions. A company e-mail revealed the presence of a “measuring system” for employees: they were ordered to perform military-style exercises while at work so that they would stay “thin and beautiful.” If the employees failed to meet the standard, they would be “punished” with extra squats and pushups.

What is so perfidious about Jeffries’ marketing strategies is that not only does he perpetuate them within the company’s campus (headquarters), but he also attempts to carry these unrealistic standards from the boardroom into real life settings, like airplanes. A lawsuit was filed in 2010 by corporate jet pilot Michael Stephen Bustin, 55, who claims. “he was fired in December 2009 because of his age. In the case Jeffries, 68, is being accused of age discrimination” (ABCnews.com).

According to Bloomberg News, the toady CEO’s 47-page aircraft standards dictates the following:

• Male flight crew members aboard the company’s Gulfstream G550 jet must wear A&F polo shirts, boxer briefs, flip-flops and a “spritz” of the A&F cologne
• As passengers board the aircraft for return flights, the 1985 Phil Collins hit “Take Me Home” must be piped over the cabin PA
• The executive’s three dogs – named as Ruby, Trouble and Sammy – had specific seats based on which was traveling
• Staff must wear black gloves when handling silverware and white gloves for setting the table
• Flight crew members are also banned from wearing coats unless the temperature falls below 50 degrees
• Airline crew must not expose the toilet paper nor fold the end square
• When [passengers] make a request, respond by saying ‘no problem.’ This should be used in place of phrases like, ‘Sure’ or, ‘Just a minute’

Oklahoma City Thunder cheerleader Kelsey Williams referred to as “chunky” by blogger

Someone needs to remind Jeffries that he isn’t Jay-Z or Beyonce. Personally, I still maintain that a good bitch-slap is called for . . .

Man, what kind of world do we live in, anyway? Apparently, one in which this woman → can be referred to as chunky, you know that completely tactless word used to slam a woman for not being . . . well, for not being A&F worthy, I suppose. Sheesh.

More later. Peace.

Music by Esthero, “Never Gonna Let You Go” (man, I love this song, and I’ve finally found the perfect copy to accompany it)

Related articles

• Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Not Wanting “Plus Size” Women, ‘Thin and beautiful’ Customers Only (z6mag.com)
• Abercrombie & Fitch Refuses To Make Clothes For Fat People (businessinsider.com)
• Mike Jeffries, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO: NO FAT CHICKS! (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• Mike Jeffries Abercrombie: Retail Chain Ignores Plus-Sized Women; ‘Doesn’t Want Large People in His Store’ (hngn.com)
• Attention “Fat Girls”: Abercrombie & Fitch Doesn’t Want Your Business (secretsofthefed.com)
• Abercrombie & Fitch CEO: Idiot or Genius? (on.aol.com)