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American Morning

Interview with Corrine Woods, Jerry Della Femina

Aired April 29, 2002 - 07:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: They are famous, some might say infamous, for pushing the advertising envelope with graphic and controversial clothing catalogs. Critics say this year's Abercrombie and Fitch Summer Quarterly -- and the company says it is not a catalog, it's a quarterly publication -- is nothing more than a soft- core porn magazine disguised as a mail order catalog.

The company for its part describes the catalog or publication as -- quote -- "beautiful fashion photography" -- unquote, and a commentary on college life. The Illinois state legislature and the American Decency Association are renewing calls for a boycott against Abercrombie and Fitch.

Joining us now to discuss this, from Washington, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Corrine Wood -- Governor, nice to have you with us.

LT. GOV. CORRINE WOOD (R), ILLINOIS: Good morning.

CAFFERTY: And here in New York City, advertising executive, Jerry Della Femina -- Jerry, nice to see you.

Governor, let's start with you. In 1999, you called for a boycott against this very same company. I would assume if you have looked at this latest magazine that it's time to renew those calls, yes?

WOOD: It is clearly time to renew the calls. It seems that every time that our message gets through to Abercrombie that it's wrong to be selling sex to teens and preteens, they take a step backwards. And this new summer catalog that is also described as XXX by Abercrombie does just that.

CAFFERTY: Well, I'm not sure they are selling sex to preteens. I mean, the company has said that you have to be 18 years old in order to get a hold of this thing. It's not available as a handout or something that will simply show up in the mailbox. You have to purchase it. You have to be 18. So to say they are selling sex to preteens is maybe not fair, right?

WOOD: Well, the reason why we even know about this catalog is because it was the mother of a 16-year-old who actually called our office, because her daughter, 16 years old, had received the catalog at home. And we also know and so does Abercrombie that there is an awful lot of 10 and 12 and 13 year olds that are wearing their clothing with the Abercrombie across their chest, knowing that it's representing something more than just their name.

CAFFERTY: Jerry Della Femina, you have been in the advertising business a long time. We have gone through...

JERRY DELLA FEMINA, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE: Hundreds of years.

CAFFERTY: Yes, hundreds of years. We have gone through Victoria's Secrets. We have gone through the alleged child porn in the Calvin Klein campaign of a few years ago. Is this over the top?

FEMINA: No, no, it's not over the top. But the fact is that Abercrombie relies on the governor giving them this PR every once in a while. This is something that -- I am much more nervous about my 13- year-old finding things on the Internet than I am having that get into their hands. Besides it's not meant for them, and it's not reaching them.

CAFFERTY: The fellow who is associated with the American Decency Association, Bill Johnson, this was his reaction -- and by the way, that's the cover. This thing comes wrapped in plastic with a XXX cover on it, and you have to, as I said, be 18.

This is what the American Decency Association says about the campaign: "The Abercrombie and Fitch Summer Quarterly is aptly labeled XXX. The first 119 pages are devoted to full-page, color photographs of nude teenagers cavorting at the beach, in the water, in the backyard. The erotically posed photographs are what you would expect to see in a porn magazine, not in a clothing catalog whose market audience are teenagers." Harsh words.

FEMINA: A good man. Obviously he has never seen a porn magazine.

CAFFERTY: Yes, it's not exactly hard core. I have looked at it.

FEMINA: It's not hard core at all. And this is something that they can turn on and see are a lot of cable channels. Look, my 16- year-old, the fact is you don't want them to see this. You don't want them to open these magazines. But there is no way to stop it, and the fact is that I think the photographs seem to be in good taste. You know, is it wise to have nudity selling clothes? I don't understand that either, but...

CAFFERTY: But you know one thing it is doing? It is getting them about five minutes on a national television show right now here this morning.

FEMINA: Which is what they really want.

CAFFERTY: Which is why probably what's behind it all. Governor Wood, let me pass this company statement past you and get your reaction to it. This is from the company, Abercrombie and Fitch: "Each Abercrombie and Fitch quarterly for sale in our stores is shrink-wrapped. It denotes the mature content of the publication. Our policy requires purchasers show proper identification to complete the purchase of the magazine, and we are confident that this ensures the book is sold to our intended audience."

Now, that would seem to be a reasonable precaution, no?

WOOD: Well, first of all, when Abercrombie first came out in 1999 with their catalogs, they weren't shrink-wrapped, and they also had lots of nude photos, articles on binge drinking. And it wasn't until myself and a number of other officials throughout the country called for a boycott then did they actually respond by at least shrink-wrapping it.

But let's not pretend that this doesn't get into the hands of 16- year-olds or even younger. The simple fact is it does. And unfortunately, there are probably more children that know what's in these catalogs than their parents. And that's why we are calling for a renewed boycott. We have a Web site, stopa&f.com. We are asking people if they object to this type of marketing to our teens to please log on. We have had more than 30,000 people log on the Web site.

And again, the simple fact is they are marketing a type of lifestyle to children that are younger and younger. It's just simply inappropriate.

CAFFERTY: All right. We're going to have to leave it there. Governor Wood, I appreciate you being on with us -- Lieutenant Governor Corrine Wood of Illinois and Jerry Della Femina of his own firm here in New York City -- nice to have you both with us.

FEMINA: Next time, make it news. That's obscene.

CAFFERTY: No, no.

FEMINA: That's really obscene.

CAFFERTY: No, we can't do that.

FEMINA: Yes, I know.

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