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92_SR0170
LRB9209105XXyyA
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Abercrombie & Fitch ("ANF") has been a sporting
3 goods clothing retailer since 1892; and
4 WHEREAS, Michael Jeffries became ANF's Chief Executive
5 Officer in 1992, and began to change the company's focus; and
6 WHEREAS, 16 of ANF's 261 retail stores are in Illinois;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, ANF's targeted consumer groups are youths,
9 teens, and college-age young adults; and
10 WHEREAS, ANF admittedly promotes a lifestyle, not just
11 clothing; and
12 WHEREAS, Past ANF Quarterly catalogues have mocked
13 religion and have featured full and partial male and female
14 nudity; casual drug use and underage drinking; narrative
15 accounts of oral sex, sexual intercourse, and sadomasochistic
16 abuse; and methods of youth sex with the elderly; and
17 WHEREAS, On November 17, 1999, Michigan Attorney General
18 Jennifer Mulhern Granhohn sent a "Notice of Intended Action"
19 to ANF, ordering it to "immediately cease and desist selling
20 or disseminating this material to Michigan minors"; and
21 WHEREAS, In December, 1999, the Chicago City Council
22 passed a resolution imploring "the public, and parents
23 especially, to boycott ANF", and further urging stockholders
24 "to demand a public stand against advertising of this nature
25 ... until advertising of this nature ceases"; and
26 WHEREAS, ANF now places its Quarterly in shrink wrap with
27 a parental warning label so it can feature more sexually
28 explicit articles and pictures, even stating that it "might
29 as well make it worthwhile"; and
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1 WHEREAS, In the most recent catalogue, Spring Break Issue
2 2001 titled "XXX Adventure: Get Wet Set & Go On Spring
3 Break", approximately one-third of the 273 pages are devoted
4 to selling clothing while the remainder encourage promiscuous
5 behavior; and
6 WHEREAS, On page 58, a question is posed to "Ask A & F"
7 from a Catholic high school senior, in love with a nun, who
8 "fantasizes about taking her away ... where [they] can be
9 together" and wants to know if he'll go to hell. The answer:
10 "Probably. But why not ask her anyway? That's the only way
11 you'll get her to kick the habit. Ha ha. Get it? Kick the
12 habit?"; and
13 WHEREAS, On page 62, "Dating the Elderly" includes
14 explicit discussion on how to have sex with a senior citizen;
15 and
16 WHEREAS, On page 68, "The Minnesota Twins" talked about
17 one spring break when "we started drinking as soon as we got
18 there ... needed the bathroom really bad and wandered onto
19 the balcony. He was taking a pee and right underneath was
20 the security guard. Needless to say, he had to spend the
21 weekend in jail"; and
22 WHEREAS, On page 123, Lenny Krayzelburg stated that he
23 "would do porno movies"; and
24 WHEREAS, On page 145, it addresses the question "What
25 advice can you give to our readers who are going on Spring
26 Break and want to get laid?"; and
27 WHEREAS, It recommends books such as Imajica by Clive
28 Barker - "Sex with men. Sex with Women. Sex with rain. Sex
29 with hermaphrodites. Sex in which two human partners
30 physically devour each other..."; and
31 WHEREAS, On page 44 is a sensual scene planting the image
-3- LRB9209105XXyyA
1 of three-way sex with two females and one male apparently in
2 bed - all with eyes closed, lips parted, with one female
3 kissing the cheek of the male; and
4 WHEREAS, On page 69, two nude males are in the weeds with
5 their private parts blurred; and
6 WHEREAS, On pages 72-77 there are numerous wedding party
7 pictures showing some males in underwear only and one
8 snapshot showing a male removing a female's dress while
9 others watch; and
10 WHEREAS, On page 105 is a completely nude male; and
11 WHEREAS, On pages 132-133 is a group shot of 3 females
12 (two topless) and seven males embracing, with four of the
13 males completely nude with towel or female barely covering
14 their private parts; and
15 WHEREAS, On page 174 are three females pulling down the
16 boxers of a male with pubic hair visible; and
17 WHEREAS, On pages 202-203 is a completely nude female
18 (frontal nudity) and completely nude male (side shown)
19 running in water; and
20 WHEREAS, On page 267, several females remove the shirts
21 and pants of two males in a strip dance; and
22 WHEREAS, On page 268, five females successfully pull down
23 the pants of two males, showing full rear nudity; and
24 WHEREAS, The Abercrombie & Fitch Summer 2001 catalogue
25 begins with 121 full pages of explicit photographs of nude,
26 semi-nude, and provocatively posed young people; and
27 WHEREAS, Advertisements for clothing do not begin until
28 page 122 of the 280 page summer catalogue; and
29 WHEREAS, 54 of the 280 pages include articles and
-4- LRB9209105XXyyA
1 interviews tied to the catalogue's theme of "pleasure";
2 therefore, be it
3 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
4 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the public,
5 and parents especially, to boycott Abercrombie and Fitch, and
6 urge stockholders to demand a public stand against their
7 marketing techniques promoting an obscene lifestyle, until
8 advertising of this nature ceases.