The American Family Association, bastion of family values, sent out this ACTION ALERT (yes, I subscribe, and I bet a ton of other Kossacks do, too):
Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) continues its pattern of pushing pornographic-themed material into mainstream America. Abercrombie & Fitch has just begun offering their "New College" line of T-shirts.
More below the fold.
The first A&F T-shirt pictures a young girl opening her blouse - exposing herself. A&F titles the image: "Show the Twins".
The second picture is of a female running nude. A&F titles it: "Female streaking encouraged."
The next Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt is entitled: "Female Students Wanted for Sexual Research"
Abercrombie & Fitch does not merely sell a popular line of clothing – they sell a lifestyle. And because A&F clothing is popular among teens and college kids, the influence of their sex-as-recreation lifestyle is widespread.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention reports that Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year— almost half of them among young people 15 to 24 years of age.
You can see the pictures of the shirts here (link omitted). WARNING: They are offensive.
A link takes you to their boilerplate letter. They are campaigning to get A&F to stop selling those items. The suggested email reads:
Dear CEO Jeffries:
I am greatly offended by Abercrombie & Fitch's new T-shirt line. These tees are extremely graphic in their casual approach to sexual activities.
As a consumer, I am asking your company to pull all tees with sexual innuendos and to stop producing these types t-shirts. My decision to shop in your store depends on it.
I look forward to hearing from you regarding my concern.
I didn't like that one much. Do AFA people really shop at A&F, especially if it promotes a life-style that seems at odds with the lifestyle AFA preaches? I think they are being disingenuous and frankly, dishonest (and yes, I love to understate things). Are those two family values they want to relate to their constituents? But I digress. I didn't like their suggested email, and I don't really shop at A&F (I'm a little past college age now), but AFA lets me use their free email engine as a subscriber so, hey, what the heck! Here's what I wrote.
Dear CEO Jeffries:
The American Family Association has asked me to write this email to you. I agree with AFA that people need to be educated about STDs and the dangers of being sexually promiscuous, and I applaud their efforts to get out the word about educating others. Education is the cure for ignorance, and indeed, STDs are a problem in the US.
With this in mind, your t-shirts in question with the sexually charged messages are creative, witty and potentially big sellers. You probably won't want to change a thing about their design.
In addition to this, a good marketing move would be to consider participation in an educational campaign to remind high school and college age students about the risks of irresponsible sexual behavior. You can surely spare a small fraction of your profits for such philanthropical pursuits.
You want to keep your customers coming back for more, so this act of responsible stewardship would be most appreciated by me, and most certainly by the AFA, who have urged me to contact you to persuade you to educate your customers.
I hope this email finds you well.
Sincerely,
I like my email. I doubt AFA sent it though, since it went through THEIR mail engine...but maybe it did. THANKS, AFA!!