Cut Abercrombie name from ER, advocates say
AP
March 11, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A children's advocacy group wants
to keep a children's hospital from putting clothing
retailer Abercrombie & Fitch's name on a new emergency
room.
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The children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is named for
Nationwide Insurance Co.
Abercrombie, known for its racy marketing campaigns
aimed at teenagers, has pledged $10 million toward the
construction of the emergency department at Nationwide
Children's Hospital in Columbus.
The Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood on Tuesday urged the hospital to drop any
plans to put Abercrombie's name on the project, pointing
to research that has shown a link between sexualized
images of teens in the media and mental health problems
in girls.
The advocacy group made its position public in a letter
to the hospital Tuesday that was signed by about 70
pediatricians and academics from around the United
States.
"Given this company's appalling history of targeting
children with sexualized marketing and clothing, no
public health institution should be advertising
Abercrombie & Fitch," the letter states.
Major financial supporters of the hospital always are
recognized with wall plaques or some other kind of
honor, but officials haven't determined if Abercrombie's
name will appear on signs in and around the emergency
department to open in 2012, said Jon Fitzgerald,
president of the hospital's fundraising arm.
The hospital previously has referred to the project as
the Abercrombie & Fitch Emergency Department and Trauma
Center.
Fitzgerald had no comment on the advocacy group's
letter, other than to say it will be discussed
internally and that the hospital appreciates
Abercrombie's philanthropy. The advocacy group is not
asking the hospital to give back the money.
"We are proud of our long-standing relationship with the
hospital and pleased to help secure its bright future,"
Abercrombie spokesman Tom Lennox said in a statement.
Last year, the hospital renamed itself after
Columbus-based Nationwide Insurance in exchange for a
donation of $50 million over 10 years. Other
corporations have lent their names to children's
hospitals, including toy company Mattel Inc., which
supports Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA in Los
Angeles, California.
McDonald's Corp., the world's biggest fast-food chain,
agreed in January to stop advertising on student report
cards at a school district in Orlando, Florida, after
the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood complained.
Abercrombie & Fitch, based in the Columbus suburb of New
Albany, has earned a reputation for risque catalogs and
promotional photography featuring scantily clothed
models.
In 2003, the company halted publication of its
seven-year-old A&F Quarterly catalog amid complaints by
conservative and feminist groups about sexually
suggestive photographs. The company did not give a
reason for ending the catalog's run.
"Abercrombie & Fitch is well known for pushing the
envelope in terms of teen sexuality, and to have an
emergency room named after them is ludicrous," said Dr.
Victor Strasburger, a professor of pediatrics at the
University of New Mexico, who signed the letter faxed to
Nationwide Children's Hospital.