Abercrombie & Fitch is seeing major backlash for a tone-deaf attempt to appear LGBTQ-friendly.
The company—which has been in constant decline and is expected to never turn a profit again—committed a social media faux pas over the weekend that is not only offensive, but exploits a marginalized community for marketing purposes.
To promote the store’s new Made for Love collection (essentially polos with rainbow logos), Abercrombie & Fitch tweeted that “the pride community is everybody, not just LGBTQ people.” The tweet garnered few retweets and likes but hundreds of replies (meeting the ratio criteria for a controversial or “horrible” post) before being deleted.
While the company partnered with The Trevor Project, a free suicide prevention hotline for young LGBTQ people, for the limited edition clothing line and campaign, the move has caused an uproar in the LGBTQ community.
Read also: This Guy’s ‘Heterosexual Pride’ Tweets Are Making Him the Most Hated Person Online
Queer activist Riley Jay Dennis had choice words for Abercrombie & Fitch.
https://Twitter.com/RileyJayDennis/status/873374063376318464
Camille Beredjick, founder and blogger at Gay Writes, responded to emphasize that Pride is for LGBTQ folks, not allies.
Love you @TrevorProject, but this is not a productive statement. Pride is for LGBTQ people because of the ways it's forcibly taken from us.
— Camille Beredjick 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@cberedjick) June 10, 2017
Civil rights activist Danielle Muscato echoed this and slammed the company for its exploitation of the community for marketing purposes.
Here are a few more replies to the tweet, which include comparisons to “all lives matter” and a Google search for “how to delete someone else’s tweet:”
Abercrombie & Fitch has not issued a formal apology, but the tweet has been taken down and replaced with a new tweet about how A&F works “to ensure that everyone feels included, respected and empowered.”
Pride is an important time for the LGBTQ+ community. At A&F we work to ensure that everyone feels included, respected and empowered. #pride
— Abercrombie & Fitch (@Abercrombie) June 11, 2017
Nice try.
