[Update]:On the heels of further sales dips, Abercrombie goes after the plus-sized market. Please forgive us, Plus-Sized market

You have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient.

The PR disaster affecting Abercrombie & Fitch empasizes how comments made years ago can come back and bite a brand.

Abercrombie’s CEO, Mike Jeffries, proudly promotes his brand as exclusionary, only for the beautiful cool people to enjoy.

That’s right. A CEO with a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders cut off 97% of the consumer market from his brand.

His comments can be found here:

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Explains Why He Hates Fat Chicks

Grab the popcorn and watch this PR disaster unfold as a brand is weighed by consumers discovering what this CEO represents. It’s certainly one thing for a brand to market to certain sizes, but quite a different thing for its CEO to openly make statements that will be destructive to shareholder value.

The next quarterly report will reflect how consumers react to a CEO who basically promotes bullying. The board will be forced to face the reality of a socially connected market and why having the right person head the helm is crucial.

Yes, consumers are weighing in now:

A Letter To Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries

Sizing Up Abercrombie – A Letter To Mike Jeffries

The letters above reflect the opinion of a market that is more than willing to let consumer dollars speak up.

The Abercrombie board is being faced with some serious questions right now. How they respond might very well determine if the ugly uncool people decide to pay their salaries – parents of cool beautiful people of all sizes and looks, investors, future board nominators – you know, the uncool bric-a-brac that can determine the fate of brands and careers.

Update:

The Abercrombie brand takes a hit as measured by Brand Index.
Abercrombie & Fitch scores tumble with Millennials

The financials are nothing to brag about right now according to MarketWatch
MarketWatch: Abercrombie & Fitch loss narrows, but results miss

It’s really the next quarterly report to watch when consumer reaction will be fully seen in the numbers.

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