We've all heard the news stories surrounding the ever fashionable and controversial Abercrombie and Fitch. Well, this is why. Take a look at this picture and what do you see? It baffles me as to why a clothing store would make an ad featuring someone wearing virtually no clothing. Isn't the point of the advertisement to market their product? I might be mistaken, but I thought they were selling clothes, not half naked guys. Sure, they might be trying to send the message that guys who wear Abercrombie clothing all look like this chiseled young man, but I feel like it might be more effective if they showed him wearing at least an unbuttoned shirt. This ad is the object, and everyone who sees this ad are the subjects.
Abercrombie and Fitch is a highly overpriced store that aims it's marketing at white, preppy, rich kids. Whether you're the popular girl or the rich rugby player, you probably own something from Abercrombie. The sign is the Abercrombie and Fitch logo that brands the clothing, signifying to people the person wearing the outfit is probably at least somewhat wealthy and preppy, or at least wants to appear that way.
In a way, this is a very clever marketing campaign, however. With all the controversy surrounding Abercrombie's ads in recent years, they have been getting major publicity they otherwise would not have gotten. Girls want to go in the stores to see if the guys shopping there actually look like the guys in the ads, and guys go in the stores to see the girls. They even have models standing in front of some stores to draw people in. I know I have friends who collect the bags with this type of advertising on them and hang them in their rooms as wall decorations.
As much as someone might hate Abercrombie and how they market their clothing, no one can say this isn't a clever idea. The more risque the advertisement, the more buzz it creates!
I took a Mass Communications class at Normandale last year, and we talked about advertising. We talked extensively about magazine ads and how they seem to be selling sex as opposed to product. We drew some analysis around that and we had a few ideas as to why they would choose to market that way.
ReplyDeleteOne reason is simply the phrase "sex sells." Sex is something animal that is embedded in all of our brains in a strange way. No matter what your race, sexual preference, religion or level experience, certain images trigger something in the human brain that is universal. Nature relies on that "something" that makes us want sex to continue the human race. So sexual symbols are very powerful and pervasive to a variety of people. These advertisers do market research to see what kinds of images trigger reactions. Naturally, the more risque ones trigger more of a reaction, so the advertisers use them in their campaigns. This is the marketing strategy they choose because it works. Sex sells.
To be completely honest, I've never walked in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch store and thought 'why do their models have no clothes on' until you've pointed it out. I'm so shocked at myself, and confused as to why I've never thought it's weird that there's no clothes in a clothing ad.
ReplyDeleteLet's be real though, of course I've walked in front of their store and thought 'that man's not half bad looking'.... which is exactly what they're going for. And I completely agree with you saying that it's a clever marketing campaign, and that sex sells. It's entertaining and interesting when you think about how far advertisers go to get their so called 'point' across. I'm really curious as to see where we're going to be in a few years if we've already gotten to the point where clothing ads have .09% of clothing in them.