It seems that Sorrentino is annoying and upsetting Abercrombie by wearing their brand on "Jersey Shore." The reason? According to a release from the retailer, "We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes, but believe this association is contrary to the aspirational nature of our brand, and may be distressing to many of our fans."
OK. . . are you kidding? Yep. . . Abercrombie's fans have been nurtured by the brand into a batch of high moral standards that far exceed the questionable morals promoted by "Jersey Shore." Remember - as Al Lewis reminds us - that this is the same retailer that peddled "Who needs brains when you have these?" T-Shirts for girls a few years ago.
Thanks Abercrombie, for once again looking out for our kids!
Seriously? If nothing else, Abercrombie offers a great case study in how to effectively market product and worldview in today's self-absorbed brand conscious world. Sadly, their strategies work. The brand continues to grow and a host of shallow people continue to indulge their shallowness by buying the product and the worldview.
Should Christians think differently about Abercrombie? Or, am I just an alarmist?
(Click here to see a post I wrote on Abercrombie a few months ago.)
4 comments:
OK- so I want to get that t-shirt to show off my moobs. Ewwww....
I'm ambivalent about boycotting a company because of something like this. I take my daughter (11) shopping and point out the ridiculous things the retailers want to push her into - including the Justice store padding the majority of their swim tops and bras (if possible, we remove the pads before trying anything on, if not possible, it doesn't even get tried on)-this has been going on for years. Old Navy jeans are way too low in the waist and we just shake our heads and say "not these". At TJMaxx yesterday I pointed out a seriously padded bra and we talk about how our bodies are just fine the way they are - no need to add padding just to look a certain way.
When I was a kid, I love building sandcastles... Especially at the beach. See, to make a good sandcastle you need to get good wet packing sand (For those way north, packing sand is like good packing snow... same principles of physics). So I'd build a grand old castle and enjoy it, until the tide came in.
Then i tried to self sacrifically jump infront of that sand castle while the water completely destroyed my creation.
I feel this way sometimes when it comes to working with our teens and culture. No matter how hard i try (and i know its not just i), it seems that culture invitably erodes all that good work and creation that has been done in the ministry or to those in the youth group till only a hole remains where a beautiful creation once stood...
Thx Walt, love your blog.
Matt
Http://engagingtheshadowsofyouthmministry.com
The most recent coverage on this story show that Abercrombie is doing it strictly as a publicity gag. It was pure PR aimed at right at their core audience which is the audience for the execrable Jersey Shore.
We may not like the A&F style (and I don't) but they are consistent, polished and successful at promoting their world view.
The church could use a few lessons.
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