Comments on: Comments on 16458

Post number 16458

disaster — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 06:38:40 -0800

Has Abercrombie and Fitch gone too far?

By: Brilliantcrank

Brilliantcrank — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:04:22 -0800

Thats just plain wong.

By: eas98

eas98 — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:15:11 -0800

In as much as anything funny goes too far in today's overly sensitive, victim-oriented society.

By: m@

m@ — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:25:52 -0800

Damn, I was hoping for nude models a-la the Early Winters catalogs.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:26:45 -0800

Was anybody else hoping it would be some over sexed advertising campaign?

By: disaster

disaster — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:27:22 -0800

sorry guys, no n00dz, just some INTENSELY tasteless tshirts!

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:32:14 -0800

The real A&F outrage is the prices

By: tpl1212

tpl1212 — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:32:17 -0800

Abercrombie and Fitch would be my clothes store of choice if I were a disheveled college student who had no access to an iron...but wow, looks like "crappy clothes" just weren't hot enough of an item for them...

By: tpl1212

tpl1212 — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:42:08 -0800

As an addendum, I just found this article in the SF Gate...with some classy corporate quotes: "We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt," said Hampton Carney, with Paul Wilmot Communications in New York, the public relations firm where Abercrombie referred a reporter's call. "We never single out any one group to poke fun at," Carney said. "We poke fun at everybody, from women to flight attendants to baggage handlers, to football coaches, to Irish Americans to snow skiers. There's really no group we haven't teased."

By: dkhong

dkhong — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 07:59:45 -0800

hmmm...so you have a PR firm of caucasians thinking that they know the mindset of Asians and Asian-Americans and that they would be happy to see xenophobia written all across a t-shirt. Hey, at least the lynch mobs have become friendly corporate faces...

By: haqspan

haqspan — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:07:44 -0800

No, these shirts go to far.

By: umberto

umberto — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:14:08 -0800

The amount of time and effort people put into scanning the world around them, on high alert to be offended is amazing. Simply amazing.

By: disaster

disaster — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:18:33 -0800

its presumptuous to think that i am offended by said shirts. i am not easily offended, so i am not. i was more surprised/shocked that abercrombie would be so controversial with its actual clothing.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:21:50 -0800

They're no worse than the way their regular clothing parodies white people.

By: pixelgeek

pixelgeek — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:22:45 -0800

<kneejerk> In as much as anything funny goes too far in today's overly sensitive, victim-oriented society. </kneejerk>

By: techgnollogic

techgnollogic — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:25:54 -0800

Damn... the polynesians are gonna be fuckin' pissed. I can understand Piney Branch Swim Club type shit... the whites don't give a fuck... but SURF BOARDS?!?!?!? You're playing with fire now, son, and I don't mean juggling those swinging torch things...

By: ivey

ivey — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:34:25 -0800

Not sure what they were...but the two items linked in the FPP appear to be gone now. All I get is an error. Anyone have a cached copy, or just an explanation?

By: techgnollogic

techgnollogic — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:48:38 -0800

Earlier they'd give you errors and if you hit reload a few times they'd pop up, but something different appears to be going on now... it would appear to be just a shitty website... The first shirt is a "Wong Brothers' Laundry" shirt that says "Two Wongs can make it white" and has two little cartoon asian rice hat farmer guys... The other shirt says "Buddha Bash" and "Get your Buddha on the Floor" or something... and a little drawing of the Buddha throwing up a peace sign or something.

By: me3dia

me3dia — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:51:56 -0800

Here's a photo, from the SF Gate story posted above -- contains pictures of the T-shirts in question. Basically, a three shirts with sterotypical Asian charicatures on them (actually, really just two -- the buddha shirt is pretty tame, albeit sacreligious to Buddhists). Why would anyone bother buying one of these shirts? They're ugly, not very funny, and probably $29.95.

By: Dom

Dom — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:59:52 -0800

not to mention nothing from that god-forsaken company fits or has any sort of quality. . . it's like mid-priced old navy.

By: aaron

aaron — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 09:12:58 -0800

A&F exists on its reputation of pseudo-hip boundary-pushing alone. They have to pull stunts like this to survive. Otherwise they're just a fad. ESPRIT, anyone?

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 09:29:48 -0800

A&F should have just imported all those leftover Prime Minister Koizumi t-shirts instead. Whoever designed these shirts are idiots. Thanks for putting a summary techgnollogic.

By: techgnollogic

techgnollogic — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 09:45:08 -0800

A&F exists on its reputation of pseudo-hip boundary-pushing alone. Really? Boundary-pushing? I thought they were just more HilfiGAPololdNavy Baggy Khaki Baseball Capped Cargo Frattage... What've I been missing?

By: WolfDaddy

WolfDaddy — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 10:02:06 -0800

Those shirts are terrible! They need to go! I'll rip 'em off each and every A&F male model I see. With my bare hands! Their shorts, too! Yes, I will! Then after that, I'll report for deprogramming, honest.

By: McBain

McBain — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 10:48:40 -0800

Everyone makes fun of The Gap, Old Navy, A&F... well then just where the hell am I supposed to buy clothes? K-Mart?

By: tomorama

tomorama — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:05:48 -0800

MetaFilter would probably crucify me if it ever saw my closet. I don't think I own anything that's not A&F/Old Navy/AE. I think they're the best looking clothes around now. Would anybody complain if they made shirts that poked fun at Irish people? Is this because "white people wear abercrombie"?

By: moz

moz — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:14:37 -0800

i'm with you, tomo. most of my clothes are from old navy; whatever else is usually from structure. i'd wear something else, but work isn't too keen on Bjork tee shirts for whatever reason. (shouldn't everyone be keen on Bjork?)

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:20:42 -0800

Another ugly shirt. Talk 'bout a horrible font. tomo, what does A&F make that you can't get by other competitors for a significantly cheaper price? I've heard that A&F sales are good, but I still wouldn't wear A&F just for principle. Would anybody complain if they made shirts that poked fun at Irish people? Is this because "white people wear abercrombie"? This could potentially turn the thread into another race discussion, but white suburbia is in a position where making fun of themselves is alright. Also throw in the idea of positive negative-stereotypes. Socially, it's alright to be a drunk Irish, but to be a "Chink" that works harder than everyone else and steals jobs... that's wrong.

By: BlueTrain

BlueTrain — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:37:31 -0800

but I still wouldn't wear A&F just for principle. What principle? The "I'm too cool to submit to corporate trends" principle? Or the "God, A & F was so two years ago" principle? There's so much BS posturing going on in here. No one gives a shit about what you wear; unless it's nothing but a smile.

By: moz

moz — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:47:38 -0800

What principle? The "I'm too cool to submit to corporate trends" principle? maybe if hobbes had said he would not wear mainstream clothing of any kind, BlueTrain. Or the "God, A & F was so two years ago" principle? i think the only principle on display is the one that states "God, BlueTrain is spoiling for a fight." There's so much BS posturing going on in here. why, yes.

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 11:49:50 -0800

BlueTrain, back in 8th grade, someone once told me that they were racist bastards who only hired white models, and that stuck. I've never been inside a store, nor flipped through a catalog, but whenever I walk by, I see happy preps. And just for you, I wear Hanes white Ts everyday of the summer with alternating khakis. It'd be cool to get a couple threadless shirts, but the money usually goes elsewhere.

By: BlueTrain

BlueTrain — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 12:04:36 -0800

Aight, I flipped through the online catalogue and didn't see a single non-white man or woman. Further, I didn't see any brunettes, redheads, Asians, Latinos, etc... IF they are committing a form of informal racism, I'm wrong and they should be boycotted. However, if they are simply selling themselves to a niche market, i.e. upper-middle class suburban whites, I see no problem in their business practices. Hell, there are millions of companies selling to specific minorities; that doesn't mean they're racist, it simply means they have a target in mind.

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 12:28:43 -0800

Good point.

By: Satapher

Satapher — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 13:25:17 -0800

what the hell did the shirts even say? the links are dead and gone

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:13:41 -0800

Satapher: Your answer is somewhere in this thread. Moz, I've got to come to BlueTrain's defense here. Hobbes was less than crystal clear with the "just on principle" comment. I agree entirely that racist companies should be boycotted, but that wasn't at all clear from the initial comment. It came off as very "I'm too cool" for me, as well. Having explained him/herself, hobbes now makes much more sense.

By: gutenberg

gutenberg — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:32:34 -0800

Who cares about the t-shirts? I'm still stuck on the eye candy. WolfDaddy: let me know if you need any help...

By: chipr

chipr — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:40:50 -0800

Linux users must not be in their target demographic. I visited their web site with Mozilla, but when I tried to enter the shopping area I got the "your browser is not good enough for us" message. Maybe this is one reason why us geeks have such poor fashion sense.

By: moz

moz — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:54:58 -0800

BlueTrain, jpoulos: Moz, I've got to come to BlueTrain's defense here. Hobbes was less than crystal clear with the "just on principle" comment. I agree entirely that racist companies should be boycotted, but that wasn't at all clear from the initial comment. my reaction was to the suggestion that a dislike of A&F (admittedly by an unclear principle) translated to a disdain of corporate trends -- for wouldn't that include many stores besides A&F? since hobbes and BlueTrain have sort of kissed and made up, though, i suppose it's a moot point. i'm just wondering why BlueTrain was so quick to the gun? i wish people wouldn't try so hard to out-bluster the next guy on mefi. it's frustrating to see. what do you imagine that you gain? where is the love, people?

By: BlueTrain

BlueTrain — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 15:14:01 -0800

Necessarily, my second comment, refering to BS posturing, wasn't directed toward hobbes. This thread had an odor of, "hate abercrombie because it's cool", which is the same argument we hear when we talk about Britney Spears or N'Sync. It's incredibly assinine and has "jump on the bandwagon" written all over it. Those "principles" I laid out were of contempt and didn't specifically mean anything. I originally read his comment as arrogant and elitist, which he eventually cleared up. My love exists for intelligent comments and well-placed jokes. Otherwise I get a little pissy.

By: futureproof

futureproof — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 15:56:16 -0800

On a similar tangent to this post of mine. This month's Vancouver Magazine has an article about a T-Shirt company that makes these Abercrombie T's look like Disney.

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 22:50:22 -0800

The comments are horrible. it's an empowerment thing It's a wannabe-urban-ghetto-black-gansta thing.

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 22:59:39 -0800

Oops, didn't see the other thread.