Abercrombie's Little Bros

Hollister's SoHo flagship doesn't open until Thursday, but the chain has already employed a set of scrubbed-smooth lifeguards to watch over it. No doubt you'll be noting how they stand out in Manhattan.

Former Big Brother Contestant Joshuah Quits A&F Job Over Blond Highlights

PROTESTS COMPANY'S 'HIERARCHY OF HOTNESS'

Abercrombie & Fitch's hiring practices are being scrutinized once again by the Dallas Morning News, which last week featured the story of former gay Big Brother contestant Joshuah Welch:

"Sales people function as the store's advertising and are handpicked by current employees, said Joshuah Welch, a 26-year-old Dallas resident, was hired two weeks ago as a manager and told to recruit people who walked into the store looking 'all-American, clean, wholesome, or the girl or boy next door.' He said stocking employees, on the other hand, are told not to speak to customers. 'It's a hierarchy of hotness,' he said. The job is 'a cattle call and you are hired based on looks, not your ability to fold clothes or work with people,' Mr. Welch said...He just quit his managerial training program at the NorthPark store after his bosses told him he would have to leave if he didn't get rid of his new blond highlights. 'I need a job where I am appreciated for the work I do, not because I fit into their mold,' said Mr. Welch, who previously worked for Abercrombie in Austin before appearing on a season of the CBS reality show Big Brother. 'I thought they had evolved, but they haven't,' he said."

You may remember Joshuah as the Big Brother contestant who misinformed his housemates that gay men can't get HIV if they're topping their partners.

(via afterelton and reality blurred)

A&F's 'Naughty' New Quarterly

Here's the cover of the new "adult" Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly which is being released across the pond and at Barack Obama rallies only. If the cover is any indication, the catalog features male photos from behind (so I'm not sure how it's much different from the old ones) and the women (as well as anyone non-white) seem to have been vanquished from this land of Adam & Steve. It's rumored to cost $200 bucks.

It appears someone made a Bruce Weber collage and then got busy with the Photoshop "colored pencil" effect.

Full cover (possibly NSFW) AFTER THE JUMP...

Obama's Abercrombie Boys: Case Closed

Questions regarding the origin of the Obama Abercrombie boys have been answered:

"The so-called Abercrombie boys who showed up behind Senator Barack Obama during his speech Tuesday night in Evansville, Ind., were just random Obama fans...Because they were all wearing T-shirts from Abercrombie & Fitch, they stood out in the crowd, even receiving cell-phone calls from friends who had spotted them on television during the speech. Soon the media mentioned them, wondering whether they were part of an advertising campaign, a shrewd bit of product placement by the retailer, which is geared toward the same young crowd attracted to Mr. Obama’s candidacy. Not so. The young men saw a report on CNN and called the network to say they had not planned anything. One of them works at the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Evansville. He and one of his brothers and a friend decided to go to the rally; they wear A&F clothes all the time and didn’t think twice about the T-shirts. At the rally, a campaign volunteer asked them to stand behind Mr. Obama during his speech. It was not clear what role the T-shirts played, if any, in their selection. Spokesmen for the Obama campaign and A&F said there was no plan to highlight A&F, and both were caught by surprise when the T-shirts drew such attention. Virtually all campaigns strategically select the audiences who appear behind their candidate so as to send a message to television viewers."

As I noted yesterday, folks are already selling Obamacrombie T-shirts.

Said Tom Lennox, VP-corporate communications for A&F: "We appreciate the exposure, but can not take credit for it. So, thanks to the Obama campaign for this great product placement. We wish we had thought of it. If Hillary is interested, we have stores all over North Carolina, Indiana and Oregon."

Racy Images from Abercrombie and Equinox Gym Rile Conservatives

UPDATE: Virginia Beach police DROP obscenity charges...

Police seized two murals from an Abercrombie & Fitch store in Virginia Beach over the weekend, citing local obscenity laws. One is the image above. The other is of a woman with her hand over her breast.

Hampton Roads reports: "Adam Bernstein, a police spokesman, said the seizure and the issuance of the summons came only after store management had not heeded warnings to remove the images. The citation was issued under City Code Section 22.31, Bernstein said, which makes it a crime to display 'obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles.'...The manager was not arrested but faces a fine of up to $2,000 and as much as a year in jail, if convicted. Bernstein said that in a meeting last week with store management, the officer - who is assigned to routine patrol of the mall - said he understood it was a corporate decision as to what would be displayed in the stores. But he explained that that didn't exempt the local store from complying with the city code. Bernstein said management was told specifically: 'We want those advertising signs taken down.'"

Meanwhile, some Catholic groups are up in arms about the latest Equinox Fitness Club ads that depict a group of nuns drawing a well-built nude male as if in a life drawing class.

WCVB Boston reports: "C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said the ad shows contempt for the Catholic religion. 'It says a great deal about this perverse obsession in both the fashion industry and the advertising industry of exploiting and mocking and sexualizing Catholic religious imagery,' Doyle said. The fitness company responded with a written statement saying, 'Our ad campaigns are based on personal motivation and fantasy and throughout history the body has been considered a form of art.'"

Catholic League go-it-aloner Bill Donohue, of course, was aroused roused by the ad as well. He said: "...this patently stupid ad that Equinox is floating suggests that it must hype its edgy image in order to compete. That’s too bad—apparently their targeted demographic group isn’t lured by the prospect of more barbells and fruit bars. Hence, the need to rip off Catholic imagery in a sophomoric soft-porn ad. Of course, Equinox could have asked Fallon to replace the nuns with Islamic women covered with veils. But that was probably too edgy, even for these trendy types. Guess there are some envelopes that no one wants to push these days. How telling."

Donohue should just settle down. The photo could have been captioned: "Suck it Jesus, this man is my God now."

Abercrombie Nixes Shirtless Men. (Plus: Eco Stag Party?)

In an effort to keep y'all entertained, we'll check in with some blog friends and get some links up through the day. Rest assured Andy will be back next week. (And yes, he misses you too.) Our regular tech column by Jon Barrett will be up later today of course. So you do have reason to go on.

Our friend Kenneth (in the 212) is featuring photos from from the Anderson Cooper, Jeff Corwin, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta launch party for CNN's new enviro-series. He found Lance Armstrong, Matthew McConaughey, and strangely...no women.

HunkduJour directed us to the latest from performance art group Improv Everywhere. Where else would you go shopping with a few hundred shirtless buddies after playing football in Central Park? (Plus Ugly Betty shirtless geek hotness.)

 

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