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Personal Page = Should I buy that? =

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The transformation of the North American society from a manufacturing to an information economy has, as a result, changed the mannerism and the lifestyles of its citizens. Today, the middle class has grown and consumer spending has increased has a reflection of this growth. However, consumer awareness has also increased due to the vast choices now available to them. This is evident in the power of “//consumer discrimination//” ( Fiske 2000, 306), where consumers can chose what they will and won’t purchase due to having multiple options. Consumer’s ability to disengage from consumerism is a growing trend that has become more influential in its impact on consumer marketing. As a result, Marketers are forced to become more conscious of their image and representation in consumer society. For example, the 1990’s witnessed mega companies like Nike and Wal-Mart facing extreme scrutiny from the media and consumer associations for their treatment of their employees. This resulted in various boycotts and millions of dollars of spent by these companies, in an attempted to counter this negative attention. In a more recent example, Wal-Mart in 2004 became the subject of a media scrutiny which included two news documentaries which criticize the company control of its retailers and employers, as a result, Wal-Mart had to counter with large scale PR campaigns to counter these criticisms ( Straubhaar and LaRose 2008, 298). This paper will be outlining the concept of social consumer resistance which involves boycotts, protests, and etc. against a service provider, manufacturer, and etc. by the public for the unethical/non-consumer friendly practice/s engaged in by such organization. Abercrombie and Fitch will be use to illustrate such social consumer resistance; using as an example the many campaigns against the company for its questionable marketing practices.
 * Introduction:**

Abercrombie and Fitch is a clothing line which describes it self has “the essence of privilege and casual luxury … [done in a] youthful American style” (Abercrombie & Fitch). A&F was first established in 1892, it is the parent company of both Hollister and Abercrombie (Abercrombie & Fitch). Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) has witnessed numerous campaigns of consumer resistance over the last 6 years for their questionable marketing ethnics. Organizations such as //Boycottcity.org// and The //Organization of Chinese Americans// (OCA) has petitioned in the past for boycotting A&F, and has been critical of their marketing methods over the years. These various campaigns have come up against A&F for their racy and sometimes racist advertisements, and questionable marketing methods. In 2001, the clothing company “enraged parents … with a summer catalog of teenage-looking models groping each other and in the nude” (Ortiz 2002) which forced the Ohio based company to pulled the catalog. In April of 2002, Abercrombie and Fitch “inspired protests and boycotts over a T-shirt line featuring Asian cartoons with slanted eyes and coolie hats” (Ortiz 2002). Accusations of racism were made by the protesters, and as a result, the company had to pull the t-shirts line. One month later the company experienced extreme backlash, once again, by parents who were disgusted by their new product gauged at adolescence girls, ages 10 to 16 – “thong underwear in children's sizes - with the words "eye candy" and "wink wink" printed on the front” (Ortiz 2002). In 2004 A&F “it agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of promoting whites over minorities and cultivating a virtually all-white image”(Fox News 2008). In February, 2008 “Police confiscated two display photos of scantily clad men and a woman from an Abercrombie & Fitch store and cited the manager on a misdemeanor obscenity charge” (Fox News 2008) this was a result of A&F management failure to compile with authorities warning to remove the posters due to customer complaints. In the following month of March, 2008, Abercrombie and Fitch came under criticism from //the Commercial-Free Childhood organization// (CCFC) for the Nationwide Children's Hospital, in Columbus Ohio, plan to put the “clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch's name on a new emergency department” (CNN 2008), for their contributions in constructing the department. This has resulted in a campaign by the Commercial-Free Childhood organization (“a national coalition against advertising to children//”// ( About the )), urging “the hospital to drop any plans to put Abercrombie's name on the project, pointing to research that has shown a link between sexualized images of teens in the media and mental health problems in girls” (CNN 2008). This incident of protest by CCFC is to confront the ethics of Abercrombie and Fitch marketing strategy, and in thus doing so, raising the questions of ; what purpose does it serve A&F to have their name as the title of a children hospital department? and, is A&F advertising responsibly? The implication of these incidents of resistance on consumer society has served to increase “//consumer discrimination//” ( Fiske 2000, 306) of the Abercrombie and Fitch brand. For example, after the 2002 incidents A&F stocks witnessed a drop in cost (Ortiz 2002) in that year, but of recent has picked back up in earnings, and has reported a fourth-quarter [|earnings] of 9% in March of 2008 (CNN – Money 2008). The criticism Abercrombie and Fitch gained from these incidents suggests that consumer society is becoming much more critical of the image of brands, and that, media and campaign groups are advocating for more responsible advertising by companies.
 * Boycott and Protest Abercrombie & Fitch:**

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As illustrated above consumer resistance (i.e. boycotting, protesting & etc.) are done on the half of the consumer. Consumer resistance is engaged in by consumer, government, and/or organization in order to project/represent consumer interest. Hence, the two opposing sides of consumer resistance are the service providers, manufacturers, and etc versus the consumer and/or any agency or organization which lobby for consumer interest. Consumer resistance includes any form of resistance implemented by a citizen or his/her government to restrict/resist a company’s message, service, and/or goods. For example, a citizen’ decision to sign up for the telemarketing opt-out call list would be an example of consumer resistance. As consumer resistance become more prevalent, service providers and manufacturers will need to be better aware of what their consumers expect of them.
 * Definition:**
 * Issue:**

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Today, there are numerous consumer resistant groups/organizations which lobby for consumer rights/interest. Two such organizations are Boycottcity.org and the Commercial-Free Childhood organization (“ a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, parents…devoted to limiting the impact of commercial culture on children”( About the ) ), which are expanding the means use to spread consumer resistance. An on-going consumer resistance by the CCFC is the protest against the FCC for “ product placement and product integration in children’s programming and in prime time programming when children are likely to watch” ( CCFC - FCC and Integrated Marketing ). The protest against the FCC by the CCFC has been active since 2003 when the FCC was petition by the organization, Commercial Alert, for regulations to protect consumer rights and unethical product marketing in media ( CCFC - FCC … Marketing ). The CCFC propose the argument that “not only does the use of embedded advertising in television programming fail to provide any useful consumer information about a product, it is misleading because the very success of embedded advertising is predicated on obscuring the commercial message altogether” ( CCFC - FCC … Marketing ). This argument is in favor of parents’ concerns about advertisement finding their way into their child’s programs and the ignoring of government policies concerning child protection. While the FCC represents the other side of the argument—in representation of the advertisers—that “the whole idea of product placement is to advertise to people when they’re not expecting it. So the law requires that advertisers disclose [their advertisements]… and if they don’t do that, it’s a serious violation of the law” ( CCFC - FCC … Marketing ). No progress has been made in the protest by CCFC and as of today the issue remains. =====

// References // __Abercrombie & Fitch__. 03 Feb. 2009 . FISKE, John. (2000[1989]) “Shopping For Pleasure: Malls, Power, and Resistance” in schor, J.B. and Holt, D.B. eds. //The Consumer Society Reader//, The New Press, New York, 306-328. STRAUBHAAR, Joseph, and LaROSE, Robert (2008). //Media Now. Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology//. 5th Edition. Belmont, Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. ORTIZ, Vikki (2002). //Parents say kid's thong is just plain wrong// – Clothier selling skimpy skivvies for girls 10 and older. May 17, 2002 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Online at: < http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=43941>, consulted on 30-Jan-09. //Sexy Abercrombie & Fitch Posters Confiscated, Manager Charged With Obscenity,// February 04, 2008. Fox News – Associated Press. Online at: < http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327975,00.html>, consulted on 30-Jan-09. CNN – Associated Press. //Cut Abercrombie name from ER, advocates say//. March 12, 2008. Online at: < http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/12/abercrombie.hospital.ap/index.html>, consulted on 02-Feb-09. "About the." __Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Home__. 03 Feb. 2009 . CNN – Money. //Stocks ease at Friday open// – Worries about the economy continue to plague investors. February 02 2009. Online at: // < // __ http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/15/markets/markets_nyopen/index.htm __// > //, consulted on 03-Feb-09. "CCFC - FCC and Integrated Marketing." __Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Home__. 04 Feb. 2009 .