If you recall from this post, I abhor Abercrombie and Fitch. So, it was with glee that I read a short piece in the Trib this morning moaning about their controversial t-shirt slogans. Here are a few:

"Wisconsin cuts the cheese" - for non-Americans, Wisconsin is always teased about it's cheese, and Wisconsinites are called "Cheese Heads." However, that slogan is tame.

"Wong Brothers [sic] Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make it White" - more racist.

"West Virginia: No Lifeguard at the Gene Pool" - much more racist; again, for non-Americans, West Virginia is considered a hick state by the racists where people sleep with their brothers and their mean IQs are in the mid-70s.

"It's All Relative in West Virginia"

So, this author, says it's time for us to turn this around on Abercrombie. She wrote several slogans to get at them, but most of them weren't funny at all. I bet we can add some funnier ones! Here were a few of her better ones:

"Abercrombie and Fitch: It's All Downhill After High School"

"Abercrombie and Fitch: 11th Grade Education, 5th Grade Sense of Humor"

"Abercrombie and Fitch: Defeating Individuality, One Outfit at a Time" - my personal favorite!

How about yours!

I guess I’m not as offended as you, Kalleh, by A&F’s silly slogans. I don’t, for example, find their West Virginia slogans racist because, well, West Virginians aren’t a race -- yet. What with all the alleged inbreeding, they may get there some day. (Just kidding!)

Perhaps my participation in the Washington Post Style Invitational (SI) humor contest colors my view of this matter. West Virginians (and other supposed bastions of bumpkinship) have been the butt of jokes in the SI for many years.

As for the Wisconsin slogan, you may be unaware of the meaning of the expression “cutting the cheese.” It’s slang for passing gas.

I'm sort of with Kalleh on this one. Abercrombie and Fitch are quite well known for this sort of thing and while I can see where the humour in these slogans is supposed to be they strike me as the thin end of the wedge. If the "Two wongs" slogan is OK then what's to stop the barrier of offensiveness being pushed out further. I could make up a few examples but I'm sure you can invent your own.

Of course my perception is coloured by the equally offensive French Connection campaigns in Britain. I do find it offensive to see people walking around with T-shirts that say "Do you want to FCUK?" and "I love to FCUK!".