CEO Mike Jefferies under Fire for Fat Discrimination
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jefferies has been accused of not wanting overweight people shopping in his stores. According to The Independent, a publication in the U.K., Robin Lewis is a retail industry analyst who is charging that Mike Jefferies “doesn’t want his core customers to see people who aren’t as hot as them wearing his clothing. People who wear his clothing should feel like they’re one of the ‘cool kids.’” Abercrombie & Fitch has more than 300 outlets in the US. While they do sell men’s clothes in XL and XXL sizes, they are only designed in those sizes to fit the trim physiques of “strapping sportsmen,” according to Lewis.
Mike Jefferies – It’s time to understand the US market
Granted, I understand that picturing a skinny person in your advertising makes for effective marketing (I mean, we all want to stay young, thin, and good looking. Right?), but with the vast majority of the US population being overweight, I think this is a bad business decision on his part. I’ve been overweight for all of my adult life and most of my adolescent years. It’s not easy losing weight.
Yes, I know it’s a choice we all need to make. I’ve heard it before. Ray, put down the fork… Ray, you don’t want to end up big like your father… Ray, back away from the Twinkie. It’s not like I want to be as big as I am. I want to be thin. I really do. However, I also want to feel like I’m respected whenever I choose to venture out into society. I have lost a considerable amount of weight in the last year. It has done a lot for boosting my ego and self-esteem. Going out to shop for clothes and not being able to find any at major retailers that are in my size is a bit disheartening.
Mike Jefferies – not one of the ‘cool kids.’
However, to hear stories like this coming from CEO’s like Mike Jefferies, who seem to be out of touch with reality, just makes me fighting mad. If I could meet him, I’d have him walk around in a fat suit for a week. Perhaps after seeing what many of the US population goes through, he may change his tune and increase the waistlines on his products a bit. He may be a candidate for a Ron White look-a-like contest, but he has a long way to go to be, in my opinion, one of the ‘cool kids.’
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