ABERCROMBIE & GLITCH, Asian Americans rip retailer for ..... |
 Apr 12 2005, 04:15 PM
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#1
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 t3h koolest guy in cB  Group: Member Posts: 2,194 Joined: Jan 2004 Member No: 513  |
story kidna old, but tru.
QUOTE Days after hitting store shelves, new Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts featuring caricatured faces with slanted eyes and rice-paddy hats had Asian Americans in the Bay Area and beyond demanding a public apology from the retailer. The Midwestern clothier, which targets the young, affluent and active, said it was surprised by the mounting controversy over the T-shirt designs. One has a slogan that says, "Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two Wongs Can Make It White." Beside the prominent lettering are two smiling figures in conical hats harking back to 1900s popular-culture depictions of Chinese men. "We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt," said Hampton Carney, with Paul Wilmot Communications in New York, the public relations firm where Abercrombie referred a reporter's call. "I wouldn't know how they could think that," said Austin Chung, 23, of Palo Alto, business manager for the quarterly Asian-focused magazine Monolid. "Abercrombie & Fitch is producing popular culture, and they cater to the views of the majority. You have to ask yourself, who benefits, who gets empowerment, from these kinds of images? It denigrates Asian men." As word of the new T-shirts in Abercrombie stores spread yesterday among university students and on far-reaching e-mail lists, plans shaped up for a late-night meeting in a Stanford dorm lounge. The subject: What to do about the series of themed T-shirts the retailer -- known for edgy advertising and skin-bearing advertising -- introduced Friday in stores and on its Web site, www.abercrombie.com. "Wok-N-Bowl -- Let the Good Times Roll -- Chinese Food & Bowling," one design reads, with a stereotypical image similar to the figures on the Wong Brothers shirt. "Abercrombie and Fitch Buddha Bash -- Get Your Buddha on the Floor," reads another shirt that shares display space in the youth-oriented, casual-clothing store its longer, and once again tru  . im not asian but, it racist and wrong. still happens today.info from instyleshoes.com and sfgate.com |
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Apr 12 2005, 04:17 PM
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#2
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 if you feel like dying; you might wanna sing Group: Member Posts: 100 Joined: Apr 2005 Member No: 124,836 |
ok im not shopping there anymore.
i haven`t heard of that but thanks for posting. ... pissed. |
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Apr 12 2005, 04:19 PM
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#3
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 NO. I'm not 13. or 14. or 15. or 16. Group: Member Posts: 4,616 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 30,577 |
Yeah I heard about that. They won't hire asian people to work in their stores, either. My friend is Chinese, but if you didn't look at his face, you wouldn't know he was Chinese, and he wears all this A&F, yet Abercrombie refused to hire him.
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Apr 12 2005, 04:20 PM
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#4
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 HAAAAAAAA. Group: Member Posts: 4,472 Joined: Dec 2004 Member No: 75,068 |
Thanks for sharing it, I'm asian and I live in the Bay Area.
 But I think that's wrong and racist.
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| *autumn.* |
Apr 12 2005, 04:27 PM
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#5
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Guest |
I'm Asian but .. I think it's amusing. I can see how other people are offended by it, but I'm just fine with those logos. The Wong/white thing is rather clever.
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Apr 12 2005, 04:29 PM
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#6
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 This bitch better work! Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 13,681 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 28,095 |
do i have too open of a mind? i am mexican-italian but if i was asian/chinese, i would laugh at the t-shirt and probably buy it. i think that two wongs can make it white is clever and a little big funny. and no, i am not a racist person i can just can see where abercrombie is coming from and i think that people need to stop thinking everything that has to do with ethnicity is racist.
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Apr 12 2005, 04:31 PM
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#7
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 Another ditch in the road... you keep moving Group: Member Posts: 6,281 Joined: Jan 2005 Member No: 85,152 |
^^
i agree, although im not asian... but i can see why people would thing it was funny, and i dont actually think it does promote any bad ideas. i mean, what? are tehy ashamed of the hats? |
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Apr 12 2005, 04:34 PM
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#8
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 cheeeesy like theres no tomorrow Group: Member Posts: 3,316 Joined: Aug 2004 Member No: 37,142 |
just like frankie i agree . i have an open mind. but if they are gunna use ethinicity in their shirts they should also give rights to other ethnicities to work at their stores. i mean if they arent gunna hire different races then they might as well just poke fun of white people (no offense)
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Apr 12 2005, 04:55 PM
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#9
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 ♥ Group: Official Member Posts: 4,066 Joined: May 2004 Member No: 18,393 |
In one of the malls in my area, there are Asians, as well as other ethnicities working there, not just white. Interesting.
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Apr 12 2005, 05:01 PM
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#10
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 RAWR. Group: Member Posts: 2,585 Joined: Feb 2005 Member No: 102,641 |
I turned against a&f when my cousin, white blone hair blue eyes, wanted to work there. They hired her, then asked her to go tan and bleach her hair so she would fit in more. she refused and was fired before she even finished her training.
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Apr 12 2005, 05:52 PM
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#11
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 Lauren loves YOU. Group: Member Posts: 2,357 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 32,793 |
i hate that store.
the shirt doesn't offend me. just because it mentions race in it, doesn't necessarily make it a racist shirt. however, there is evidence that it is a racist store. so i wouldn't shop there, regardless. 
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Apr 12 2005, 08:55 PM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 1,575 Joined: Jan 2005 Member No: 93,957 |
i've seen asian workers in some of the stores, though it's usually the token asian man and/or the token asian woman. this is just another reason for me not to like them.
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Apr 12 2005, 09:13 PM
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#13
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 RiKACHANtEL Group: Member Posts: 3,876 Joined: Sep 2004 Member No: 51,230 |
oh i heard about that. i dont think they meant to be racist. they just thought the shirt was catchy.
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Apr 12 2005, 09:58 PM
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#14
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 i've never wanted anything rationale. Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 8,449 Joined: May 2004 Member No: 19,045 |
QUOTE(allthatglitterss @ Apr 12 2005, 2:19 PM) Yeah I heard about that. They won't hire asian people to work in their stores, either. My friend is Chinese, but if you didn't look at his face, you wouldn't know he was Chinese, and he wears all this A&F, yet Abercrombie refused to hire him.  ....Just because he wears their clothes doesn't mean he will get hired. Also, I agree that the wong shirt is clever. I can see how people would get offended but I don't really think Abercrombie meant the shirts in a negative way. |
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Apr 12 2005, 10:06 PM
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#15
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 Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 64 Joined: Apr 2005 Member No: 123,022 |
uhhhh..yeahh
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Apr 12 2005, 10:13 PM
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#16
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gigi =p Group: Member Posts: 3,679 Joined: Aug 2004 Member No: 41,206 |
^ Don't spam.
Hmm. I'm Chinese...and I see tons of things like that every day. And my Chinese friends think it's funny. I think it's funny. I don't see why a store deemed "racist" should get the blame for jokes based purely on stereotypes, when this has been going on forever. And it is a source of humour, you must admit. |
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Apr 13 2005, 09:23 AM
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#17
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 yan lin♥ Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 14,129 Joined: Apr 2004 Member No: 13,627 |
yeah i've heard about it.
frankly it's quite amusing how the people who designed this shirt think asians will like it, but instead asians are causing this huge uproar over it. |
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Apr 13 2005, 02:56 PM
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#18
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 SCHGEB!SCHGEB! Group: Member Posts: 1,786 Joined: Nov 2004 Member No: 66,217 |
wow, racisist.. maybe they didnt mean any harm by it? although, the only way u can get hired there is if ur skinney/pretty/perfect
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Apr 13 2005, 03:02 PM
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#19
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 Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 1,634 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 27,631 |
yea that was awhile ago. and AF wouldnt apologize for it. racist asses. but their stuff is so nice..sigh. and i heard there were ppl selling it on EBAY b/c they pulled it off their shelves.
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Apr 13 2005, 07:13 PM
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#20
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 original member. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,825 Joined: Jan 2004 Member No: 1,460 |
I've actually SEEN asians working at abrcmb/AF. oO; maybe its just in specific areas?
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Apr 13 2005, 09:03 PM
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#21
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 You can call me Jon Group: Duplicate Posts: 878 Joined: Mar 2004 Member No: 9,806 |
HOLY HELL AND WTF?
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Apr 13 2005, 09:08 PM
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#22
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 durian Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 13,124 Joined: Feb 2004 Member No: 3,860 |
... Agreed, it is old haha. This happened like years ago, I think. Okay maybe not that long ago, but still. I don't really think it's that big a deal. But it just shows how stereotypical they are. Ah well... I see my friends wearing shirts depicting funny phrases due to fobby accents and whatnot. My sister wants to work at Abercrombie&Fitch. I've never seen an Asian work there, though.
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Apr 13 2005, 09:19 PM
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#23
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 Wow, i dont know whats going on... Group: Member Posts: 1,439 Joined: Apr 2004 Member No: 10,977 |
i hate it, especaially how they insult asians and buddhists.
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Apr 14 2005, 04:19 PM
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#24
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This bitch better work! Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 13,681 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 28,095 |
QUOTE(IamRad @ Apr 13 2005, 1:56 PM) wow, racisist.. maybe they didnt mean any harm by it? although, the only way u can get hired there is if ur skinney/pretty/perfect actually that is not true. my sister's best friend's boyfriend works there is not the skinniest person in the whole world. |
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Apr 14 2005, 04:22 PM
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#25
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 deleted Group: Member Posts: 3,168 Joined: Jan 2005 Member No: 92,276 |
they were just trying to make funny t-shirts but the thing is THEY WEREN'T FUNNY.
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Apr 16 2005, 09:54 PM
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#26
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 Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 112 Joined: Mar 2004 Member No: 6,655 |
abercrombie is really quite odd. i've stopped shopping there now. but i do swing by for sales.
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