Fitch The Homeless
What makes it so great? There are a few reasons. The first was Karber's timeliness. He knew that if he was going to create a project surrounding the comments from the CEO, he had to do it when it was still relevant. As so many social media experts will tell you, if you wait too long your opportunity to join the conversation will pass and you will never get it back. Karber jumped into the conversation at the exact right moment, earning his video a viral status.
The other thing that I loved so much about the video is that it builds on stereotypes we've all thought when we hear the name Abercrombie. The idea of a "douchebag" (as Karber says) brand and the teen "cool-kid" vibe is not easily separated from the A&F name. It reminded me of the lawsuit against Mike Sorrentino from the company in an effort to make him stop wearing A&F clothing on episodes of The Jersey Shore, as his lifestyle was not aligned with their brand imaging. The irony of the lawsuit is too comical to post here.
Many critics say the video perpetuates negative stigmas and is insensitive to the homeless. I think it was an unintentional side effect of Karber drawing attention to the ridiculousness of Abercrombie's practices. What do you think?
I had heard about this through Twitter, but I had never actually seen any action. Personally, I don't think he meant to show insensitivity toward the homeless. He was simply trying to help the unfortunate and strike against the stereotype Abercrombie and Fitch is attempting to create. I do wonder if the trend truly went anywhere. It seemed like a good idea, but I don't know if anyone else joined in his cause.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he meant anything negative to the homeless either. I don't know if the trend went anywhere. I think most people believed it to be a joke rather than a call to action.
DeleteI love this so much. I hated what I heard come out of that man's mouth. I couldn't believe he said that in the first place, but now the is paying for it. I wonder if he truly thought that what he said wouldn't affect his brand? I get wanting a certain type of person to wear your clothes, but trying to stop others from buying them?! Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I agree this campaign is brilliant in every sense. I cannot believe a huge retail store make a negative impression and not try to fix their image. Karber wanted to make an impression to Abercrombie & Fitch. I hope this video goes viral and people will begin to donate their Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to the homeless and stop buying their clothes.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I told you I read your blogs, secondly I saw this last week and just died I loved it so much. I think that man is a genius, especially since I'm #teamAmericanEagle, I am more than willing to join this campaign and stick to the "man".
ReplyDeleteQuestion though, what if the Abercrombie's owner is just said those things to bring more attention to the stores. I mean, the situation has, or had rather, a pretty big fan base and if he's paid to not wear their clothe then his fans might start buying Abercrombie in his defense or just because they know he at least likes Abercrombie. I don't know that's just my thought.
Oh my gosh Darnell reads my blog!
DeleteI knew you were team American Eagle, I'm more team Goodwill, but to each his own. That's a good point about simply saying these things to draw more attention to the brand. I also don't know what the backlash was on The Situation's lawsuit. I could totally see his fans defending him like that though.