Ever since Abercrombie’s blatant anti-fat business practices came to light, there has been a predictably huge amount of scorn for the nation’s #1 retailer of tank tops with tiny pictures of moose on them. CEO Mike Jeffries’s remarks in a 2006 interview with Salon have proved especially incendiary: “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong.” As is the way of the out-of-touch horrible douchebag, Jeffries has since issued a non-apology.
The angry responses to Jeffries’ comments haven’t all been so great. #FitchTheHomeless, for instance, is a viral video campaign in which some guy attempts to punitively “rebrand” the company by handing out Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to homeless people in LA. Get it? Because homeless people are SO UNCOOL? Ha ha ha! You know what they say: fight fire (fat-phobia) with fire (classism)!
The response that aired on Jimmy Kimmel, featuring Jim O’Heir (Jerry Gergich from Parks and Rec!!), is infinitely better, funnier, and it doesn’t demean human beings living in poverty. What’s the opposite of “Dammit, Jerry”? Because one of those is definitely in order.
