Ethical issues in society are often the result of actions by businesses and choices they make which in turn directly affect the consumer market. In the case of Abercrombie and Fitch, controversy has poured down on this brand that has been highly successful in the last few years.

One of the first issues is how the brand makes being “aesthetically pleasing” a common requirement for any employee at the American retailer. This “look policy” caused the company to receive a lot of criticism due to implications of discrimination and basing employee competency with what one perceives to be “beautiful”. If we stop here, from a business perspective, we could try and justify the company’s actions by saying it is only a marketing technique to appeal to a specific segment in the market. Following the 7 Principles of Consumer Behaviour, two principles such as Liking and Authority could explain A&F’s stance, as people tend to follow those who they perceive to be better than them and those who are similar to them.

However, it did not stop there, as later on A&F faced lawsuits due to discrimination based on race and gender. They crossed a line when in 2003, the company was sued for refusing to hire minorities, as well as “keeping out of the public eye” to those minorities that were hired. Another case that flashed concern showed up in 2013, when a Muslim woman was fired for wearing a hijab, (religious headscarf), as it “detracted” from the A&F brand.

I think this is all evidence of a corporate culture that was nurtured by poor management, whom idealized the need for a “look policy” to such an extent that it ended up hurting the company in more than one way. The brand of A&F could sustain its popularity without the need for such discriminatory actions, as well as blatant statements regarding narrow-minded views of beauty. I believe that in the long run, it will be hard for the company to recover, (if indeed it chooses to do so), and it will be interesting to see if they change their mission as a company.

References:

http://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/abercrombie-fitch-employment-discrimination

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviatemin/2013/05/13/abercrombie-and-fitch-v-dove-or-how-a-ceo-can-wreck-a-brand-in-1-interview-7-years-ago/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/23/abercrombie-fitch-lawsuits-hijabs-head-scarves