Famed retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has been attacked by angry consumers who have accused them of selling a pair of brown cargo pants on their outlet online site this week. What is causing all of the hoopla lies in the description listed on the site that refers to the featured trousers as “n***er brown pants.” The retailer is refuting the accusations and has taken action to shut it down, according to TMZ.
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The fake site, which appears to sell A&F knock-offs, is no longer available online and reportedly has a China registration. Still, a Twitter war erupted, with many coming down hard on the retailer for the racist description of the pants despite the fact that the information about the site being fake has hit the mainstream media.
It seems that the Chinese translation of brown has set off a few sparks in the past and it all stems from a very bad Chinese-English translation program by a popular software company called the “Kingsoft Corp.” The company apparently gives the racial slur as a translation for the color dark brown.
Although the faux site is by no means affiliated with A&F, the company still fears that this latest bad press can have a detrimental effect on its image, which has not been so squeaky clean over the years.
In 2004, A&F was at the center of racist practices. There was a class action discrimination lawsuit brought on by nine former employees who claimed they were fired, asked to work in back storage rooms or put on overnight shifts because they didn’t fit into the “Abercrombie look” enough to work on the sales floor during regular business hours.
In 2009, Riam Dean, a young law student, told her A&F employers after she was hired that she had a prosthetic left arm. The 22-year-old woman successfully sued the image-conscious retailer because she claimed that they made her work in a stockroom because her left arm didn’t fit the company’s “look policy.”
Last year, the elitist company even offered to pay Jersey Shore’s Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino not to wear their clothing per The Wall Street Journal.
An A&F spokesperson told TMZ, “We do not condone racist language. This is a counterfeit website and we have initiated legal proceedings to shut it down.”
Done deal!
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