While some choose to focus on the best celebrity documentaries, there is a steady surge of a different kind of documentary — the tell-all reveals of large corporations. As audiences hunger for different kinds of documentaries, tiring of hearing of the famous and successful, they turn to something more relatable and comparable to their own lives in the form of corporate corruption. As millions of people — particularly in the USA — struggle to make a living, they have grown to enjoy the occasional exposure of a brand that has wronged them.
When trying to look through documentaries to watch on Netflix, fans can find many documentaries that challenge the status quo of making the rich and powerful look good. Instead, many of the documentaries focus on the darker sides, whether it is their subject's mental health struggles, lapses in judgment, or dirty laundry that they have tried to bury. In some of these stories, we can understand and even empathize, while in others, all we can see is a villain trying to give excuses because they were caught. The audience is left to decide, and as they take to social media to discuss and argue, it opens up conversations that had been overlooked, avoided, or covered up before like it has always been for big brands like Abercrombie and Fitch.
8 Corporate Misdeeds Are Trending
As Covid-19 ran rampant, displacing many as they were laid off or quit due to extreme work conditions, people turned more than ever to social media to vent their frustrations and concerns surrounding unethical policies and practices in their jobs. As the cruelties and mismanagement happening behind closed doors came to light, it became clear to everyone what many had tried to bring to light for years: corporations were getting away with treating their employees poorly, paying them unfair wages, and using outdated or unethical hiring practices. The more people shared, no longer afraid to lose their jobs, the more the topics began to trend, causing filmmakers to follow the money, and create documentaries and other content to keep up with the demand.
7 "Good Looking" As A Job Requirement
Abercrombie and Fitch have always been about selling a cool preppy vibe first and foremost, with their clothing coming second in their priorities. Because of this, the infamous brand has always been seen as exclusionary, because even if it was unintentional (and time has proven it was done purposely), the brand was always meant to be bought and worn by the beautiful and popular. This was seen firsthand by the staff and applicants who wanted to work there, where your chances of being hired had more to do with whether you were considered "good looking" enough, and not about your skills or experience in selling the items.
6 Racism As A Core Principle
Not only was Abercrombie and Fitch known for racism in hiring, often sending its BIPOC staff to work in the less desirable positions in the back of the store, but they were found guilty of racism many times in other areas, including the slogans on the clothes. Racist slurs were used multiple times as "quirky" sayings, and it took years and a change of leadership for them to stop making any more.
5 Bruce Weber's Allegations
One cannot speak about Abercrombie and Fitch without mentioning the scandal that is Bruce Weber, one of their former photographers who has had many allegations from mostly male models for sexual assault and exploitation. While many of these lawsuits have been filed and are still in court, many other brands and companies have also walked away from working with him, as more models come forward. While his actions are of his own doing and were not condoned openly by the company, it is still a haunting reminder of the sexualization and exploitation that the brand has promoted for years.
4 Exclusionary Sizing
The sizing charts of Abercrombie and Fitch have always been one the most controversial topics when it came to the brand, as some found it acceptable to be restrictive and others vehemently opposed it from the beginning. They gloated for years about not carrying any sizes over a "Large", and this gave the brand a reputation as being fat-phobic and shaming people with different body shapes. As society has become more accepting of different shapes and sizes, calling for a change in both the fashion and film industry, brands like Abercrombie and Fitch are having to quickly change their branding or close shop.
3 Toxic Traditionalism
When one questions where the brand got its toxic traditionalism of the "good old boys club", one doesn't have to look further than Abercrombie and Fitch's former CEO, Mike Jeffries. He was known to make comments about how women shouldn't be too "bitchy" or "butch", and how men should be "masculine" and "rugged". Above all, he pushed for the "All-American" look, which can be chalked up into 3 words: white, sexy, and young.
2 Religious Intolerance
While some tried to defend the company's racist shirt slogans and hide their POC staff in the back, Abercrombie and Fitch couldn't hide their wrongdoings forever. When they refused to hire a Muslim woman for wearing a religious headscarf, they faced a major lawsuit that started to bring more of their bigotry to light. After fighting it to the Supreme court in 2015, the judge ruled in the woman's favor, declaring that they were indeed guilty of discrimination for refusing to hire her on those grounds.
1 The Company's Rebranding Feels Hollow
Over the last few years, the company has gone through many changes in an attempt to win back public favor, including more equal hiring practices, expanding its sizing availability, and doing an overhaul of its clothing to provide less sexual and more inclusive clothing. However, the rebranding feels to many like a hollow attempt, because the changes were based on public opinion and not on a genuine want to change. Many fear that they will revert to their old ways or, worse, find ways to do the same as before just sneakier. Time will tell, and the documentary coming to Netflix is sure to give us a better understanding of whether or not it is bound to happen.
