The Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio is under fire after accepting a $10 million donation from Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) -- and agreeing to christen a new building The Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department and Trauma Center.Not surprisingly, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is up in arms. In a press release, the group urged the hospital to "rescind the naming rights because of Abercrombie's long history of using highly sexualized images to market its brand to teens and preteens and selling clothing that objectifies and demeans young people."
They certainly have a point. Given how sexually charged Abercrombie's advertising is, an Abercrombie children's hospital certainly is an interesting juxtaposition.
But the truth is that Abercrombie doesn't really harm children. This isn't like a hospital building the Philip Morris Cancer Ward. And if this is a deal with the devil, it's a deal that will provide $10 million for helping children.
It would be a lot worse if the hospital turned down money to help children as a matter of principal. Abercrombie isn't that evil.
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-12-2008 @ 5:45PM
Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter said...
"But the truth is that Abercrombie doesn't really harm children."
If you read the letter sent to the hospital from CCFC, I think you'd find that evidence that makes a lot of us believe that Abercrobie does, in fact, harm children, espically girls.
Here's the letter: http://commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/childrenshospitalletter.pdf
3-15-2008 @ 5:41PM
bob said...
are you guys idiots? or are you some old, liberal pre baby boomers talking about stocks. its a store give it up just because they put up a few pictures, IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM GO BUY YOUR STUFF SOMEWHERE ELSE. you are probably some guy who buys his clothing from walmart or something.
last comment ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS GRANDPA
3-16-2008 @ 7:15PM
Karol Orsborn said...
As a pediatrician of 15 years myself, I truly believe that the marketing that A&F does does harm kids, and society at large. A couple of years ago, they were selling thong underwear to girls ages 6-12 with "cute" sayings like "Wink Wink" and "Eye Candy" on the crotch. And Michael Jeffries was quoted in 2007 as saying that he did not see what the big deal was with selling thong underwear to little girls. "I think its cute". Their current Gilly Hicks site allows anyone to view a soft core porn "film" as long as the date of birth the viewer makes up says they are over 18 years of age. Unfortunately, in a culture sunk as low as ours is, things that would have seemed totally ludicrous 20 years ago, today are passed off as no big deal. This chipping away at the morals of our society, I believe, in large part, accounts for the dramatic rise in anxiety, depression and eating disorders rampant in our adolescent population. If you spent one week in any pediatric clinic, you would be astounded and overwhelmed by the volume of psychologic ills we see in the youth of today. It is literally staggering and frightening.