This article talked about how Abercrombie and Fitch disobeys the code of ethics in the way that they advertise sex to young people. The store is targeted to 18-24 year olds, but many younger people shop there and the sexual slogans on the clothing gives them the wrong idea. I know this because I remember when I use to shop there in high school , I would buy tee shirts that said sexual things on them like "legal-ish" and I honestly would do it because I wanted attention from guys.
Many of their clothing's slogans have sayings on them that are inappropriate for young children. The article talked about underwear that can fit a 12 year old that has slogans such as "Eye Candy" or "Wink, Wink" on them. This is causing much contraversy for the parents of these children. I feel like marketing these slogans to younger children is unethical because it encourages promiscious behavior amoungst teens. It's putting thoughts in thier heads such as being "eye candy" is a way a girl should be portrayed to boys. I feel like it is going to cause many problems for these girls. They are going to think that getting this negative attention from guys is a good thing but it will only lead them to trouble. Its against many people's morals, ecspecially for mothers who bring thier young teens shopping, they absolutely do not want thier daughters to be portrayed to men as sex objects.
When it comes to using sex as a marketing tool, many companies do it because it attracts so many customers. If Abercrombie would do away with thier "sexy slogans" then I feel like they would lose customers. It's a hard situation to deal with because they do target to adults, but they have to realize that they draw in a younger crowd as well.
The article also talks about the American Marketing Association being strongly against using sex to sell to teens. They say that the mind of a teen is not fully developed and that seeing these promiscious images can make a young person more vunerable to belieing them. I agree with them because when a teen is wearing underwear that say "Wink, Wink", they probably think that it will get a boy to like them faster. It is teaching them negative ways to get a boys attention. It can lead to boys thinking that these young girls are inviting them in for a fun time, when in reality most of the girls are just wearing these clothes to look cool. It will only attract these boys to one thing, and that is them being an easy target to hook up with.
I used to wear Abercrombie and their cousin company Hollister for years until I started to see 12 year old girls wearing the same shirts as me. That's my point right there. 12 year old girls should not be wearing provocative sayings across their chests. They are marketing themselves in the wrong manner. But just like the reason I wore Abercrombie, they do it now to be "cool." I think that's part of the problem with our society today. We are exposing children to mature and sensitive topics too early in life. But with the Internet at their fingertips I suppose it is inevitable. You can't stop people from buying and wearing clothes, but parents should take responsibility and censor their children from mature subjects to protect their naivety for just a little bit longer.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy clothes there when I was in middle school and even some of high school. I did not though; wear the tops that had sexual terms on them. One because I my parents wouldn't allow it and two I didn't feel comfortable with what teachers would think of me. I think the younger generation these days are just growing up too fast! I mean my little brother is 10, he's had a cell phone since age 9 and does a whole lot of texting. Places such as Abercrombie's target is a older teenage crowd but they also have the way younger crowd buying their clothes. It's wrong and they know it but I doubt they care because it puts more money in their pocket!
ReplyDeleteI too, was one of those teens wearing abercrombie and hollister when i was younger. I started wearing it was I was very young because I wanted to dress older and "cooler." I thought some of the tee-shirts were funny but I would never buy them because my mother would never allow it or make me return them. I think that at this day in age too many teens are trying to act way older than they are. They think shirts like this at abercrombie are okay and just like Tiffany mentioned, they do it to get attention from other guys and they know that sex is what all other guys are looking for. It's not right and in no way okay, but it's what things have come to.
ReplyDeleteI was also a teen that HAD to shop at Abercrombi and Hollister, because everyone else was. I think that having these young girls wearing these sexual slogan t-shirts and shorts sends out the wrong message. I think it also could potentially be dangerous to the girl, because men may get the wrong idea about them and it could lead to an uncomfortable or awkward, or potentially dangerous situation. I think that Abercrombi should be ashamed of themselves, they are putting the wrong message in young, impressionist minds. So, it's okay to be dumb as long as you have nice boobs? That is the most ridiculous thing ever, and its unfortunate that this is what it has come too.
ReplyDeleteI was a teen that didn't shop at these places. I only shopped at Abercrombie when it first came out and I was in like 5th grade. Of course all of the clothes were too big for me seeing as I was still just a kid but I saw my sister shopping there so I wanted to also. When I shopped there none of these clothes advertised in this way yet because they were brand new. They had provocative posters but that was the extent of it. I remember the posters were a cool thing to have hanging in your room, one year for christmas my mom got me one to hang in my room because it was harmless and I really wanted it. Nowadays when kids are growing up they are starting to do things at age 10 that I started to do at age 15 or 16. Advertising is exposing them to much more than we ever were and its kind of getting a bit scary. Young kids see I-phone or blackberry advertisements (two phones which they would have absolutely no reason for purchasing ) and they want them just because of the cool advertising. Kids are growing up way too fast these days, partly because of their parents and partly because of society and the way products are advertising.
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