Offending Customers Is A Fashion Don't

Published: Jul 29, 2007

Being fresh and innovative is de rigueur in the fashion industry. But being crass and divisive - as famed retailer Macy's has just learned - lacks style in any culture.

To its credit, the red-faced retailer has withdrawn a T-shirt marketed to young Latinas that bore the message: "Brown is the New White."

Not only does the slogan offend Latinos, who don't yearn to be white because their skin color is beautiful, thank you very much.

It's offensive to the majority population, too.

Marketing textbooks are filled with cultural missteps by American retailers tripping over themselves to attract the burgeoning Hispanic market, a demographic that defies stereotypes. One of the most famous was General Motors' ill-fated attempt to sell the Nova in Mexico, failing to realize that when translated into Spanish, the economy car's name meant "does not go."

The T-shirt dust-up holds a lesson for companies everywhere. If targeting a demographic that doesn't look like you, surround yourself with employees who don't all look like you.

Diverse staffs can help companies better understand their markets. They might even have helped the Nova from becoming a no-go in Mexico.