In Dwight McBride’s article, “Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch” the idea behind racial advertising is discussed. McBride claims that Abercrombie clothes are not geared towards black people, although they claim their clothes are for Americans. McBride says that he noticed specifically among the gay white community. He claims every gay hot spot he went, Abercrombie would follow. At the time of McBride’s article, Abercrombie was facing discrimination charges on the way they hire. This is because they claim the Abercrombie look was a white person with few piercings and certain hairstyles. McBride also discusses how Abercrombie used to be a sporting goods store which shows that people who enjoy sports will enjoy these clothes, although they are not athletic apparel.
Why would someone complain about advertising to certain groups? There is always going to be advertisements based to certain people. It is obvious for advertising personnel to direct the advertisements to certain stereotypes because in a lot of circumstances, they are close. It is this kind of naivety that makes people so skeptical about racism and sexism and whatnot.
Overall, I found this article to be very disturbing because I think that Abercrombie clothes are stylish. I do not wear them because of store location but I do like what they sell. I do not change my opinion of Abercrombie because of how they present themselves because I do not buy the name, I buy the clothes. Most people claim that individuals buy Abercrombie for the name, but it is not true for everyone. Different people buy clothes for different reasons, whether it is the style, durability, or whatever the reason. When looking back at this article I can see that some circumstances need to be addressed and some do not. I realize that some things happen that need to be called out for racism or sexism but there are some that are not directed to be racist and are not racist. They are just misinterpreted.
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