If you are in the 20 and under crowd, Abercrombie & Fitch is probably your go-to clothing store. The store lures you in with its loud music, beautiful sales people, scantly clad mannequins and trendy fashions. As you walk by the store it is hard to miss the strong smell of fragrance wafting out the doors. I have to admit, I like going in the store; I like the loud music and I like the clothes-but the smell is enough to make me want to hightail it out of there.
A&F has quite a reputation; accusations of discriminatory hiring practices and the use of ripped, naked models in advertising campaigns geared towards children and young adults. Now they are adding “potentially poisoning employees and customers” to their growing list of reputation busters.
Turns out A&F is spraying its fragrance “Fierce” inside and outside its stores. Not only do they ask employees to spray the fragrance in and around the store, but they instruct them to wear it when they are working. According to a new study by Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, A&F Fierce contains 11 secret chemicals not listed on the label, some of which are linked to asthma, allergies and sex hormone disruption.
Now the 20 and under crowd is outraged and ready to do something about it. Teens Turning Green is a national organization of youth transforming the world by working to eliminate toxic exposures that threaten our health and the environment. They are calling on A&F to stop spraying its fragrance.
As part of a joint effort, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics sent a letter to the CEO of A&F asking them to immediately stop this practice of spraying its stores and clothes with fragrance and, in the longer term, to reformulate its fragrances to remove hazardous chemicals and fully disclose all of the ingredients. A protest was held in front of A&F in San Francisco’s Westfield Mall on Tuesday, September 28, 2010.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
- Sign the online petition to stop the spray.
- The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has launched a social media blitz on Twitter and Facebook Wednesday to Friday (September 29 to October 1), demanding that A&F stop spraying. You can post a stop-the-spray message on the A&F’s Facebook page and spread the word on Twitter. FYI-you have to “like” them on Facebook before you can comment.
- For more information on hidden chemicals in popular fragrances, refer back to the Campaigns Not so Sexy Report, and check out Teens Turning Green’s tips and materials for on-the-ground actions at A&F stores.
- Don’t buy it.
WATCH THIS :
Other related articles:
Abercrombie and Fitch (Deservedly) Earns Green Teens’ Wrath with Mall Protest
Abercrombie and Fitch -Stop the Spray
Hey Abercrombie and Fitch: Something Stinks
Wow, that is kind of scary!
This article gives me so much hope and optimism. All I can say is: “Go teens!” Thank you, Laurie
I agree Sandra-it is so nice to see Teens Going Green rally together to make a big difference.
It is scary-but nice to know that people are ready to band together and fight for a cause they believe in.
I have never actually been inside an Abercrombie & Fitch store, that I can remember. Which suddenly makes me feel very, erm, dated.
But that’s not the point. The point is that it’s awesome to see the green teens standing up to this company. I hope that A&F listens!
Hi Amber. I agree-it is awesome to see teen students banding together to eliminate toxic exposures that threaten public and environmental health. BTW-I am sure you are not dated-you just choose to make a more sophisticated fashion statement!