Too much sex hurts Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF)

Americans are so hypocritical when it comes to sex. Ever been to a museum people? Some of the greatest art of all time is about sex, one of the greatest pleasures of being alive. But we don't mind war or violence that much. We would really rather kill than make love. A lot of sexually disfunctional people out ther who want to force their attitudes of physical inadequacy on the rest of us.

My children will NOT enter this store
even they are repulsed by the young male winking with his eyes his pant's way down and close to his private, playing with himself and swinging to music.
Cheap, trashy, overpriced americana

Just the other day I read that sex on tv promotes teenage pregnancies. OK, so what about stores who use rather blatantly sexual images in their ads such as A&F and VS? I am so disgusted by either of those stores; I have 4 children aged 3-12, and I have taken to shopping for their clothes while they're at school, especially since a new Victoria's Secret store opened right at the mall entrance. My 3 and 4 year old sons stared open-mouthedly at the models (no way to avoid them), and I really think they don't need to be bombarded with sexual images at THAT age. But I think this country is headed in the right direction, given the negative opinions about stores like A&F. Remember this young girl complaining to a store that they don't make any clothing that is modest enough (this was a few years ago at the height of the bare belly fad)? I think people are finally waking up, realizing that they DON'T need to buy the trashy clothes in the stores, just because they're out there. Somehow even I managed to find clothing -especially for my girls- that don't show anything below the collar bone and above the knee (save for bathing suits), and I'm sure other people did, too.
As for the exposure to violence, yes, that is just as bad as the constant exposure to sexual images. Now, I usually try to avoid getting political here, but I have the hunch that with the Iraq war going on, violence in movies and video games was not only condoned but even approved of. What better to recruit than a generation of trigger-happy, emotionally numbed kids who will have no qualms about shooting that figure in the distance, just as they do with the characters they see on their X-boxes?!
It basically comes down to each and one of us to make the choice, whether it is about where to shop for clothes, what kind to clothes to wear, what we let our children watch on tv or what kind of video games they play. If you are a parent, please realize that you DO have the power to steer your child's life in the right direction. I conciously do not allow ANY video games, my children are not allowed to watch music videos on tv, and whatever tv they do watch has to be age appropriate. There are plenty of other things they can do aside from that, and I don't think they're deprived of anything.

A...crumy and Sleaze
I thought that was there name

Family values????? Don't you mean victorian values???? This notion of the human body as some how being disgusting and immoral dates back to the victorian era. If god wanted us to be clothed we would not be born naked. Being naked is the most natural state for all animals including humans. Get over yourselfs we all basically look the same, men have a penis and women have a vagina. Europe isn't so uptight about nudity. So I guess they have no family values??? Hate to tell you but they don't have the rape or teen pregnancy problem that we have. HMMMMM could it be that they don't make a big deal of being naked so people over there don't see it as a big deal. One day America might finally get a clue.

I would NOT date a girl wearing these skanky clothing, it give me a message
of high but trashy maintenance.

LOLOLOLOL someone on here actuallys said "privates" seriously people you can't even type the word PENIS. You did learn it in elementary school. That is if your school/parents weren't uptight and actually had sex ed.

that's heavy, it is very possible to be 5'10", weigh 155 lbs and fit into a size 10. I wore the same size at 5'5'', 150 lbs. I exercised regularly, so I carried more muscle mass than someone who doesn't exercise. Muscle is heavier than fat but takes up less room, hence people wearing a size 10 at 150 lbs or more.

Aside from the fact that A&F seem awfully proud of their clothes, as the inflated prices would indicate; I stopped shopping there after more then one instance of seeing something on several displays that were all the size I needed, then being told they weren't allowed to sale items on display. I have never been in another retailer that had such a policy. I decided they must not need my business very bad and have not been back since. Has anyone else run into this poor customer service?

To the moral minority ... I am a professional career woman in her mid 40's and I love it! I have taken care of myself, have a great body and feel great ... especially outdoors and especially in the NUDE!

To all of you idiots that think (close to) nudity is porn, you are probably fat, jealous, ugly dykes who couldn't fit into anything they show! Get a grip, better yet get a life. Oh ya and try porn, you might like it. I do! I actually perform it on guys half my age!!

I swear people are way to uptight about this stuff these days. You can see commercials on television for tampons and creams for vaginal problems and lets not dismiss the commercial for the "finger" condom with nubs on it for women and no one complains about them, Oh I guess it is ok for things to be advertised for women but when it comes to men looking sexy in ads people want them removed. I swear this country is full of hypocrates....

I don't think it has anything to do with morality. First of all they are TOO expensive and secondly every store has music on SO LOUD you cannot spend anytime in the store to shop.

I think they will recover and do well if they change a few things!!!

Love their catalogs!!!

Yeah.....but that sure is a YUMMY photo! :D

MOOOOOO!! Kid yourself all you want ... 5'10" and 180, size 14, your big. I'm 5'10" and go 130, solid hard body and size 6, I have three kids too and I am 45. I work all day and still work out. I also have the discipline to push myself away from the table when I am full. Stop kidding yourself

An irrelevant survey . A&F knows it's target market and owes it's success to brand loyalty. It's not after the "mainstream, penny shopper" but a more progressive "elite" minded shopper. Hence the high prices and risque' marketing. Those surveyed aren't customers the company is losing, but those who wouldn't shop there to begin with and not the same clientele the company is targeting. The decline in sales the company is facing is mostly due to it's mid-luxury pricing. The "upper-middle class" is a staggering market in general for the moment.

If Abercrombie & Fitch tones down it's image, it will loose it's edge. Brand loyalist will ultimately be able to find the same thing for much less at American Eagle. The one thing A&F holds over it's competition is it's image.

it's about time we got to see nearly naked males running about in commericals and ads. i don't see anyone complaining this bad about the tremendous skankiness of the Victoria Secret trollops.

Someone stated up top that people freak out over these "skin" ads but they don't care about all the violence in movies and bla bla bla. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT WE HAVE A CHOICE TO WATCH THOSE VIOLENT MOVIES. ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH ADS ARE ON ALL TV CHANNELS AND PAPERS, MAGAZINES AND YOU CAN SEE THE PICTURES THROUGH THEIR STORE WINDOW. HOW DO YOU HAVE A CHOICE IN THAT?

The argument that A&F is losing money because of "lack of morals" shown in their catalogs is pretty silly. To add my chime to others who have observed, a movie or tv show can show simulated murders, graphic rape scenes, cars(and people in the cars)blown to smithereens, body parts scattered hither and yon, but show the butt crack of two young men strolling through a field shirtless, all hell breaks loose. I NEVER shopped there(and trust me I have excellent taste)because the price points were too high and the quality of the clothing not up to par. As for "me" and "Leah"'s posts, I'm thinking "me" is a bitter, self loathing person who has to belittle others in order to feel better. "Leah", if we still had those wonderful values of the 1940's, I would still be sitting in the back of the bus, not able to drink out of any water fountain I want, eat in any restaurant I want, stay in any hotel I want, and shop only in the "better" stores one or two weeks a month. Oh, and I certainly wouldn't be able to buy my home in the town I live in now(or at the very least, constant broken windows and a decorative burning cross on my lawn). The "good old days" are the product of a selective memory. Not every old day was good for everyone.

For me, it isn't the sexual images themselves that bother me... it is the fact that the photos are supposedly immulating CHILDREN. 14-17 year olds... that is what you are supposedly looking at when you see A&F advertising, since that is their target market. The ads are making these "children" into sex objects. That is the problem. VS Models? They are modeling Bras and panties. Do they sell sex? Certainly. But none of their models are supposedly 14-17 year old girls. They are grown women. Completely different scenerio. Besides, the real reason the store is declining in sales has nothing to do with advertising and everything to do with the middle-class tightening their purse strings in the current economy. The targeted market group is moving onto American Eagle (still too expensive) and Aeropostale (where everything is always on "sale") None of that changes the fact that I do not want to see images of a supposed 15 year old boy half naked - or the fact that I will buy jeans and tops at a more reasonable price. If I want to pay that much for a pair of jeans, I can do it at the Buckle and not have to look at the half naked bodies of supposed teenagers.

As another person said, AF used to be a very classy store for all ages - wonderful sweaters, jackets for relaxing outdoors and indoors. Used to shop at their store in Phipps Plaza in Atlanta back in the '80's. Same thing with Banana Republic - a fantastic store of sporty indoor/outdoor clothing. Their store in Charleston, SC would be PACKED with shoppers. Then what happened?? Does anyone nowadays know what a banana republic is?? How far from that could you get from that with the way the store is today. I don't shop at either AF or BR.