A good example from this is the clothing store, Abercrombie and Fitch. When you walk in, the very first thing is a big poster of an Abercrombie model, usually a male. They usually have a male because women are the main gender who go shopping so they want to catch our eye. This relates to the main target audience, teens. Every teenager wants to look like a model and get the attention of everyone. So if they buy clothes from A & F, then they will be able to feel and be like a model. The picture of the model shows all of their features and their eyes stand out which attracts many ladies.
Not only do they show models in their stores, people see it outside from bags when they bought clothes from A&F. They would have their company name in red letters that pop out from the black and white background of a model or models. The men on the bag are usually shirtless with a six pack that catches everyone's eye right away. If it's a girl on the bag, she would usually wear a checkered shirt that is buttoned down to show her cleavage a bit. Or, they would show more skin by just wearing a swim suite just like in the photo above. For an added bonus, there is a model on both sides so that's what you see from any angle.
I know someone who works there and she told me that there are requirements they must have in irder to work there. This really surprised me because why does there have to be certain people to work at one place. They are basically saying that u have to be perfect in order to work at A&F.
Their main idea is to attract customers by using beautiful models on about every one if their products. Seeing this in our world makes it sick to hear and see but we still buy from the store anyway....
I totally agree with you Kristi. Abercrombie and Fitch portray their brand so that it appeals to teens, but also people in their 20's maybe mid-30's. A&F try to go for both genders by putting it on their bags and having both genders wear their products. The way their clothes are designed just scream out one of their many brands that then creates further advertising. The models on their bags don't show their face, usually, and puts emphasis on the bodies. It just goes to tell that outward physique is what matters and not ability. It's the midriff that applies to both males and females. Females expect a guy to look like the one on the bag and males the other way around. A&F toys with what we value because it's obviously not our intellectuality, but outward appearance. Another thing, A&F promotes manliness by the buff guys on the bags and fit girls. This just inputs a picture in a teen's mind that they have to look like that or they're not "hot." A&F wants to build a "perfect" range of consumers by how they choose who to hire. Apparently, A&F want "cool" people to buy their products. We don't even know what "cool" really is.... They don't have sizes bigger than a large in their stores that furthers the idea of teens believing that the ideal body is that of a skinny model.This creates the judgmental minds of teens against other teens regarding style or outward appearance. Nice job Kris!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you and Jeannie said. I hate how A&F only promotes surreal teens in their advertisements. I remember how in middle school having clothes from A&F was considered to be super cool. I remember going into their stores and looking at all of the pictures of the half naked men and women. My mom used to not let me go inside because she said all of those images were bad for my self esteem. I realized now, after watching the video, that she was right. I hate how they set the standard of living pretty high. I'm ashamed of how self conscious those ads made me. In fact, the CEO of A&F came out a couple months ago and said that they designed their clothes specifically for tall and skinny white people. Good job with your post!
ReplyDelete-Katie Low
I totally agree with everything you have said. Its not surprising that you have to be "perfect" not only to model (for any store), but to work at Abercrombie too. I think that part of Abercrombie's advertising is what attracts people to shop there. After watching Miss Representation, it has really opened my eyes to what is really going on.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. I feel like they have certain requirements for their employees because they want to send the same message with their models. The message that cool, pretty people work here and wear our clothes. Also, Miss Representation has made me realize how much of this kinda stuff is in our society.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why Abercrombie employees are all weirdly attractive! I feel like it should be illegal to require people to look a certain way in order for them to work at a certain place, no matter what kind of standards it's trying to uphold. Not only is it unfair to people who are trying to get a job, but it also creates an expectation for people who want to buy their clothes. Abercrombie consumers see both the models in the ads and the people working in the stores and think, wow, I should probably look like that. It's totally unrealistic, though, and it makes for a really negative consumer who sees themselves as constantly not good enough.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. Miss Representation really can open eyes. I also noticed the Abercrombie pictures after watching this film. They are very revealing and appealing to the customers. This persuades them more to want to buy their product. Also, the models in the picture are showing an example of what people will look like when they wear the Abercrombie clothes. It's an effective way to sell clothes but can be very hurtful in the process.
ReplyDeletewow there's already a lot of comments here... im just going to add another. misrepresentation was an excellent example of how our society is just awful and we see things the way we like to in a flat lifeless way- of men and women just being object to look at. Its just awful to think about that because we as human beings are just so much more. Think about all we've done- people on the moon, cured so many diseases, electricity! its just demeaning how society thinks about people nowdays and Amercrombie shouldn't be supporting that
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