I'm sure the majority of you have heard of the clothing store/brand of Abercrombie & Fitch, or have even shopped there. Well, this weekend, I decided to go out and had stopped by this place, only to find outrageous pictures that they had on the walls. It was a picture of two Caucasian women, along with the respective topless Caucasian man, on some beach or some lake side.
Let's consume this media for a bit. The man is Caucasian, is topless and is being... caressed by two Caucasian women. From a heterosexual lenses, this would seem "normal", right? The typical man and his lady-friends together on a beach, enjoying themselves. But what if we looked through a homosexual person's lenses? This wouldn't really support any of their views or interests with other people, especially since this is more focused on the heterosexual attraction between men and women.
What more we can deconstruct from this, is how they're all Caucasian. Why aren't their East-Asian? Why aren't they Black? This also suggests something about how Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand that's made for only Caucasian people, or that only Caucasian people are attracted to each other. It's sort of the already made dominant discourse of the store, that these clothes are specifically designed for Caucasians to wear.
And finally, the fact that we have a topless man This brings up the idea that only topless, buff-looking, Caucasian guys would only be the ones landing a girl. (I apologize if this is too abrupt haha). The explicit message is clear, that only because you are not wearing a shirt, and because you are toned, that women would be attracted to you. This leaves out the other men who don't work out to look fit, or men who don't like taking their shirts off.
Here, we have one of their summer commercials. As mentioned before, this commercial brings out a lot in terms of being targeted towards heterosexual (couples), primary Caucasian race and the infamous topless man. At very few and key points in the video, we only see small collages of their clothing, but is that really advertising? They put them very rarely in the video to have it considered an advertisement, but is mainly made up of a Caucasian man and a Caucasian woman enjoying themselves. It seems more of a video that a couple would make for one another, to display how happy they are in their relationship. What's more, is that it's a heterosexual couple, as opposed to a homosexual couple. Abercrombie & Fitch obviously does not want to open up their "box of stereotypes", because it seems very likely that they are the box of stereotypes. And again, topless man - dominant discourse is that topless men are very attractive, especially when advertising clothing.
Questions to consider:
- Has this changed your perspective towards Abercrombie and Fitch? Would you shop there more often, or less often?
- Why do you think this clothing brand chose to isolate themselves in this "box of stereotypes"?
- If Abercrombie & Fitch really wanted to, do you think they would be able to pull out of their "box of stereotypes"?
Hi Kent! Nice post :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've seen their shopping bags. Full of topless Caucasian males with those chiseled abs that are supposedly what all women love. Don't get me wrong I don't hate it, but it is extremely stereotypical as their male models are Caucasian males with muscles. It's as if the males of today are expected to look like that. I've never really shopped at Abercrombie and Fitch to begin with. If I'm not mistaken, Hollister shares the same parent company as Abercrombie. Both stores have the same problem, most of their models are Caucasian! I think that this clothing brand chose to isolate themselves to the box of stereotypes because they think Caucasians resemble these physiques and maybe want to continue the "tradition" of having only Caucasian models. They most definitely can pull themselves out of stereotypes. Aspiring models are everywhere with different physiques and race. If they made an effort, they might just attract many more customers than they currently have now.
PS for future shoppers of Abercrombie, bring a flashflight!
Yes indeed, Hollister is of the same company. I really like how you sided with the positive end of the stereotypes and made A&F seem like it's actually doing a good job maintaining the dominant discourse. Very valid points, Shelly.
DeleteCool post Kent. Truthfully, the only reason i know of Abercrombie and Fitch is because of the news. I've seen them on there a couple of times and it's interesting to see what media can do to a company. I'm pretty sure that by now, almost everybody knows of their scuffle with overweight people and the whole report that was on every station (for a time). Because of this, their sales dropped greatly. Even though now they've started to increase their target audience for clothes, it will definitely be hard to change the idea that most people have of Abercrombie and Fitch ingrained in their mind. This relates to question 3, and i think it will be hard for them to pull out. Let me explain, THEY will be able to pull out, HOWEVER, does this mean that the general public perspective of them will change? No. It is in this way that i think they will always be forced to stay in the "box of stereotypes" that they crafted themselves.
ReplyDeleteJust noticed that Monica posted something similar to what i was trying to say. T_T
DeleteWell put, Fawad. I too agree that A&F have planted too much of their ideals onto their customers and perhaps, it might be too much of a hassle to further expand their target audience. Maintaining their "box of stereotypes" does seem like the best thing to do.
DeleteWhile it may not be the "best" for their image, i think it will allow them to keep your current customers.
DeleteWell i noticed you say, having two women at once seems normal. If that is normal to you, you my friend, are a player. #swag. It hasn't really, these are their products and i believe, not allowing them to express their ideas through their products would infringe on their rights, as long as it is not explicitly bashing a certain group, it is acceptable, even if there are subliminal messages in the ads. They probably believe, these stereotypes are appealing to the general public since that is their method of marketing. They could definitely do that but until they start losing profit because of their advertisements i doubt they will.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting proposition, Akber. I like it. Maybe I may have indeed looked away from what really was appealing to the public, as A&F are pretty profitable. They market their clothing well, I admit, and I agree that it won't be for a long while that they'll finally realize how stereotypical they've shaped our minds into.
DeleteHey Kent!
ReplyDeleteLet's start off by saying that your post is great!
I'm sorry to say this but this post has NOT changed my perspective on this clothing brand. I would shop there the same amount of the time that I am not, which is quite frankly not often. (WAY to expensive)
I do believe that this brand chose to isolate themselves. I actually read multiple article about this brand and how the ceo and founder of this clothing store purposely chose to promote this brand, due to the fact that he wanted to sell clothes to people that he looked like when he was younger and to more "beautiful" people. There has been multiple media criticism about him and his decisions.
I believe that if they were to pull off their "box of stereotypes" they would not have a company to end with because they are too much already built up on their brand of white toned models.
My question to you (and others): How was creating this brand through their style of media helped them do so well in the retail industry?
How insightful! Never knew the CEO and the founder of A&F purposely used this kind of marketing to sell their clothes.
DeleteTo answer your question Bruce, I think it was the way they presented their brand. As you have said, and in the video, "beautiful" people are broadcasted and appeals very effectively to the public.
Great article, Kent. Personally, I think the reason why Abercrombie & Fitch chooses to present themselves in this way is to send a specific message about their brand. The barely clad Caucasian men and women seen in many of their commercials is the ideal California, easy-breezy customer they want to see in their stores. Along with the tone of Monica's article, they're trying to exclude certain people from shopping at their stores based on superficial ideas. I think a lack of ability to deconstruct different media texts within society is the reason why stores like A&F can still be successful despite their blatant prejudice toward people that don't fit their idea of beauty.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but how restricting and secluded the brand is, from other brand clothing. By having a certain pick on people, would they be able to further advertise their clothing from other "beautiful" people. Well put, Rebecca.
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