Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, May 13, 2013
The power of a CEO to make – or break – a brand can never be overestimated – even in an interview that took place 7 years ago.
That is just what has happened in the case of Abercrombie & Fitch: an incredibly ill-advised interview that A&F CEO Mike Jeffries granted to Salon Magazine in 2006 has just found new life on the internet. And if his comments – including that he only wants the young, beautiful and thin to wear his clothes – were insensitive and politically incorrect THEN, today they are practically an invitation to riot. Certainly, they are causing a boycott in real time. […read more]