Thanks, rachy. I had wanted to hear that date story. Yikes. So funny. He probably thought you had narcolepsy.

You are interesting in your analyses, too. I had also forgotten to mention another much older factoid from A&F customer service manual. They apparently train their salespeople to be rude. To ignore customers who come in. Perhaps more rudely the uncooler you appear to be, but in general be rude, ignore.

The other thing I realize is mean and petty of me, but I don't care, heh. This CEO has his cynical and intentional ideas for creating demand through exclusion. But I also suspect he has major personal issues as well. Here's one of his pics. Plastic surgery seems very very likely.

http://www.clutchmagonline.com.....0x358.jpeg

He comes across as really trying to make up for, uh, not having been one of the "cool kids."

Oh whoa! Creepy! Eeks. Alien man-face.

It's very weird and complex. You have bitter wannabes and you have real phonies, if you know what I mean. Like Joan Rivers is a real phoney in my book. She just loves plastic surgery and alien-face. There are people whose face is their artistic canvas. They want their face to be deliberate and their surgery to show, and so sorta by accident they want to be creepy looking. Then there are those who are "not somebody" on the inside and they get creepy plastic surgery because they're confused.

And the rudeness and exclusivity. Thing is, that's a sales strategy that works. At the same time... well, let me put it this way, A&F is no Hermes. Can we say "oxymoronic"?

Well funny thing i would be very pleased if they pay me for not wearing their clothes! jeans make u buttocks look flat and their clothing isn't very fashionable more likely boring and plain ...i love the aura tho but never go to the grove in cowboy boots lol THe grove in LA have 2 floors and i fall from the stairs because of the lightning in the stairs. I could sue them but nah! i def just promise my self never buy there plus their clothing are in most of the racks of goodwill and army salvantion ...what's the point of having this ignorant point of view i bet there are ppl not very appealing for them using their clothes. Plain stupendous! lol

lyn, as slender as you are, you are probably going to see mostly people larger than you, right? I'm curious about what the differential is before you feel that sense of "oh no, can't wear this any more".

I try hard not to give in to body dysmorphia but it is hard on my end to hear people saying "0 doesn't fit me" even though I know that in terms of a problem it's just as much of a fit issue as "my shoulders are big enough to need a size 8 in this brand." And I am petite myself!

Uh, probably when it gets so tight it pulls. I think the thing that bothers me is the lines that pop out when clothes are too tight, you know?

Because when I wear the clothes again, I see the lines everywhere, even if they're not really there.

Sorry if anyone is offended I didn't mean it that way.

To be honest I think most marketing strategies would sound equally appalling if spoken aloud, the store is echoing the elitist behaviour of it's target demographic. He is confusing popular with cool, popular is bland and cool is elusive. Cool kids would not wear A&F.

SPOT ON, Jules. Thanks for succintly putting into words what has been in my head. Truly, most marketing strategies sound offensive when spoken aloud because they are NOT diverse and inclusive. Target markets are elitist. Jefferies was as brave as he was foolish, to say how it is.

And this is part of getting along in a civilized society, IMO. We all think a lot of things that would be offensive if spoken aloud. ANY marketing strategy is, by definition, exclusionary because no store/brand can (or wants to) cater to 100% of the population. Stores make decisions in terms of store layout, advertising, product content, sizing, etc. that are designed to attract certain people and deter others.

There has been a lot of discussion, for example, about how high end brands are often unhappy to be mentioned in rap lyrics because rap listeners are not - from their perception - their target audience. But even when this was obviously apparent, most companies tried very hard to avoid outright saying that, even when everyone knew it was true.

I guess the point is that we all have a feeling about which stores feel more like "us", and that isn't coincidental. It is carefully planned marketing. But every store needs to be careful about which demographic they choose to blatantly exclude ala statements like this one from A&F. As evidenced by this thread, it isn't necessarily the target demographic who will be offended by the statement, but instead it is often the parent or older-than-teenaged adult. And those adults often either hold the purse strings or do a lot of gift buying. In my eyes, A&F is risking alienating the demographic with the income to spend on school clothing, holiday gifts, etc. And while all other stores may feel the same way, NOT saying it will gain them more customers, IMO.