Abercrombie & Fitch experienced a PR apocalypse last week when comments CEO Mike Jeffries has made over the years went viral and outraged much of the blogosphere.
Jeffries’ stance on Abercrombie’s merch being only for cool kids and not fat women (the brand does make XXL sizes for men) caused a lot of negative publicity for the struggling brand — as well as a large amount of mockery aimed at the seemingly surgically “enhanced” Jeffries when the controversy blew up.
That was last week, and the Abercrombie & Fitch controversy seems to have abated a little in terms of current outrage — but one Los Angeles filmmaker’s “brand re-adjustment” has it back in the spotlight.
Karber’s Abercrombie & Fitch homeless stunt was in reaction to another bit of the controversy — a repetition of the allegation that the company burns tons of wearable clothing rather than donating it to the needy so that the brand’s “cachet” isn’t diluted.
In Karber’s Abercrombie & Fitch homeless video, the filmmaker engages in a “brand re-adjustment” by obtaining a lot of Abercrombie gear — and distributing it to L.A.’s homeless population.
The clip, tagged FitchTheHomeless, explains how Karber took loads of Abercrombie duds straight to Skid Row, and the filmmaker says:
“Abercrombie & Fitch only wants a certain kind of person to be wearing their clothes … I travelled to a Los Angeles Goodwill, where I scoured the racks for donated Abercrombie & Fitch clothing.”
Yesterday, Karber tweeted to his followers about his FitchTheHomeless stunt, urging others to gather up their Abercrombie things and donate them to homeless shelters:
I was so mad at Abercrombie & Fitch I made this video to change their brand. youtube.com/watch?v=O95DBx…
— Greg Karber (@gregkarber) May 13, 2013
Joking that he had to raid the “douchebag” section of Goodwill for the Abercrombie & Fitch homeless initiative, Karber also said he aimed to make Abercrombie “the No. 1 brand of homeless apparel.”
What do you think of the Abercrombie & Fitch homeless stunt?
