Today, marginalization is as trendy as Zooey Deschanel’s bangs, as Americans thrive on the categorization of others and putting a person’s belief system, sexuality or appearance in a box and labeled it “cool” or “uncool.” Though cruel and at times degrading, this ostracism is typically subversive and manipulative rather than deliberate. No one wants to admit he or she is a bigot — no one except the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, Mike Jeffries. In May 2013, Jeffries said what we have all been thinking since junior high (when Abercrombie was actually a relevant brand). 

     “We hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,” he said. 

     Much of America was shocked and repulsed by the blatant malice of this statement. In so many words, Jeffries said there are people who do not belong in his stores. 

     “In every school there are the cool and popular kids and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids,” he said. “We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” 

    Exclusion did not do the franchise much good in 2013. Its sales declined by 12 percent, and Jeffries’s narrow-mindedness incited a rapid flow of angry blog posts and Facebook statuses. Considering Abercrombie reported a net loss of $15.6 million this past November, it would appear the cliché is, in fact, not true. Not all publicity is good publicity.