PR Stunt Snooze

Abercrombie & Fitch is at it again - Clothing company withdraws catalogue backing group sex:

Putting out a Christmas catalogue stuffed with naked young models having sex is a sure-fire way of attracting attention, which is no doubt what the US retail chain Abercrombie & Fitch was aiming for. But it does seem like an odd way of selling clothes.

Yesterday, the company - well known for courting controversy in its effort to become the defining label for suburban teenagers - was trying hard not to sound apologetic even as it pulled its "Christmas Field Guide", with its endorsements of orgies and group masturbation, from stores around the country.
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The catalogue, on sale for $7, featured so much naked flesh that the first item of clothing did not appear until page 122 of the 280-page volume. Among its images was a photograph of young men and women lying naked en masse beneath a Christmas tree. Alongside another image of 10 naked models was text discussing the possible varieties of group sex - "mixed-gender or same-sex, friendly or anonymous". And it added: "A pleasant and supersafe alternative to this is group masturbation."

News their customers can use!

And the whole thing seems to be a PR stunt:

While conservatives fumed, marketing experts marvelled at the sheer audacity of Abercrombie & Fitch's strategy, which appeared aimed at appealing to the rebel it suspects lurks within its clean-cut, well-mannered teenage customers.

Zzzzzz.

But there is some criticism from an unexpected source:

While groups such as the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families have called for a boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch stores for purveying "soft porn", liberal and left-wing groups noted that the naked models were exclusively white and accused the company of continuing a pattern of racial discrimination.

Ruh Oh! Now they're in big trouble!

Sigh. I'm old enough to remember when Abercrombie & Fitch was an upscale sporting goods store.