Embattled Abercrombie Hoping Size Will Matter

This has been one tough year for Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F). A megaviral "Abercrombie-Hates-Fat-People" meme started in May when a Business Insider piece analyzed Abercrombie's marketing practices and included a seven-year-old quotation from CEO Mike Jeffries. The piece then piled on with comments from a retail consultant with no connection to the company who explained that A&F didn't sell plus-sizes because Jeffries didn't want overweight people wearing his clothes. Social media outrage ensued, and a YouTube urging consumers to donate their Abercrombie clothes to homeless people for a "brand readjustment" garnered more than 8 million views.