forever 21, a store known for their inexpensive and young trending clothes, recently announced they will be introducing a "love 21" maternity line. while being launched in five states across the country, three of which (arizona, california and texas) have some of the highest pregnancy rates, the store reps say that's just a coinky-dink: "forever 21 did not create, design or distribute love 21 maternity to target, or appeal specifically to pregnant teens. any relationship between teen pregnancy rates and the locations of our stores is unintentional." needless to say, a maternity line in a store targeting tweens and teen, has raised an eyebrow or two. some question whether forever 21 is profiting from the glamorization of teen pregnancy?
my point, and i do have one, is...when forever 21 launched a clothing line called "faith 21," targeting the plus-sized girl, i don't remember seeing all this buzz about them glamorizing or profiting from obesity(i'm not saying that buzz shouldn't have existed, but it didn't.) we live in a capitalistic nation and i personally think this is a brilliant move for forever 21. in addition to opening themselves up to a new market of consumers, who happen to be teen mom's-to-be (or as sara libby from salon's broadstreet calls it the “temporarily plus-sized” girl"), the controversy is providing them with a lot of free press and chatter.
when a teen mom goes to babies r us to buy stuff she needs, aren't they profiting from that teen pregnancy? oh, and what about the magazines and newspapers who ran stories about bristol palin and jamie-lynn spears, didn't they profit from teen pregnancy? and if a teen girl walks into macy's or target and buys maternity clothes there, aren't they profiting?
look, i am not saying teen pregnancy is a good thing, not at all. and i don't think it should be glamorized. but if a girl goes and gets pregnant because the store she shops in now has maternity clothes...well we have a much bigger problem on our hands! (i can just hear a mom now: "just because all your friends are getting pregnant to wear forever 21's maternity line, doesn't mean you should!")
people spend so much time and effort looking for someone to protect "our" kids, when they already have supposed protectors, their parents. it is a parent's job to make sure their kids are eating healthy, staying safe and not getting themselves or someone else pregnant. but from the looks of things, too many parents either don't or can't do their job (and this is one job, even in today's bad economy, you can't get fired from). but hey, if you can't do your job effectively, don't be surprised when you are maternity shopping with your kid at forever 21.
what's your point?
Sooo if the neighborhood meth dealer comes up with a brilliant marketing strategy that lures in 100's of naive tweens and teens, do you applaud their genius too?
ReplyDeleteMy point, and I do have one, is that ANYONE who profits off of societies ills is somewhere in the wrong - from the drug dealer to the guy that supplies the dealer the discounted Pyrex pots needed to cook up the work. Same goes for the producers of the salacious content that undoubtedly drives teen pregnancy, and Forever 21 that provides the cool line of maternity wear so little Lisa can be the coolest looking mom in the high school lunch room. Certainly they don't all shoulder the same amount of the blame, but they are working to enable a serious problem in society.
This is part of the problem that has contributed to America's decline. No one wants to take responsibility for anything. Profit is king and in the end, nothing else matters...even if we all suffer. If Forever 21 wants to impress me, they can keep their line of teen maternity clothes, but use all of the profits from that line to develop a campaign that brings awareness to the downside of teen pregnancy. Now that would be cool! I'm just sayin'.
I like em young and knocked up, i dont care if they wear maternity clothes as long as they are cooking me my bacon Wah Wah Wah everybody wants a dollar.
ReplyDeleteTho there are mature women of a particular age (well into there their 30s) who shop at F21 that is not who the F21 people set out to be their market! Clearly F21 is in the business of making a profit and they saw that there is a (young)mom to be market to tap, this to me is a perfect example of just because you can doesn't mean you should.
ReplyDeletethanks for all the comments. keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteplease understand, my thinking that this is a smart business decision is not the same as me personally applauding them for doing it. quite frankly, there is nothing genius about this. it is pretty much business 101. there is a market for something and a company is creating product serve that market. it’s sadly, basic supply and demand.
i think teen pregnancy is a big problem. but, as horrified as i am at the epidemic of children having children, i would be even more horrified to learn that a child used this clothing line as a reason to get pregnant! there are stores for women of size, like lane bryant, but as nice as their clothes may be, women aren’t putting on weight just to wear them.
as i said in the blog, i agree that accepting responsibility is a big part of the issue. while "it takes a village to raise a child," is a great idea, eventually the responsibility for each child has to lie with the parents. if children are raised with loving and caring parents who are involved in their lives and schooling and tech self respect and a sense of personal value, whether forever 21 has a line of maternity clothes should be a non-issue. should we all help to better the lives of all children and make this world as great a place as it could be? of course! but that does that mean cereal companies shouldn't make sugary cereals because kids may eat it and get fat? or that 10pm tv shows should not be able to be a bit provocative because children may still be up watching it? yes, companies should have corporate responsibility, but people can’t keep pointing to everyone but themselves to keep their house in order.
lastly, chris, while i get where you were going with meth dealer analogy, respectfully, they aren't even close to being in the same category. whether targeting young children or adults, what the meth dealer does is illegal. forever 21 doesn’t need to sell their clothes briefcases in alleys or in the shadows so cops don’t find them. whether you agree or not with this maternity line, it's legal. (look, i don’t think that a website promoting extra-marital affairs is a great idea, but since it is not breaking any laws, they not only have a right to exist, they advertised during the super bowl). at the core, this is basic capitalism.
and let’s not forget, at the end of the day, it is the consumers who have the last say. if people are offended by this line of maternity wear, they can and should exercise their right to not patronize the store. if people don't buy the clothes, the company will have no reason to keep making them.
then maybe capitalism is the problem?
ReplyDeletemaybe it is. it is not a perfect system. but what is? and is the evil we have and know better or worse than what would replace it?
ReplyDeleteI think it's pretty gross morally for F21 to tap into this market & glamorize it. Yes, from a business stand point they will profit. But I'm a little tired of corporations caring only about their bottom lines. That's one of the reasons our country is in such a mess. Corporations run us & they no longer care about giving back or have any morals. They do not even care about making America stronger. It's all about the mighty dollar. Greed will be the end of us.
ReplyDelete