Abercrombie & Backlash

The retailer's marketing, aimed at teens, is racy and provocative, damages the self-esteem of young girls, promotes unrealistic body images and exacerbates eating disorders, says the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

The group has launched a letter-writing campaign urging the hospital to drop its naming plans. The call-to-action page comes complete with pictures from Abercrombie & Fitch ad campaigns, some of which have black bars across the racy bits.

When I wrote last fall about accepting donations from charitable organizations (see A Money Mission and What's in a Name?), opinions were varied about the concept of naming hospitals or parts of hospitals after corporate donors. Some said that hospitals should proceed with caution; others said it was downright irresponsible.

Children's, I should point out, was confident in its decision, in part because it had buy-in from community leaders and in part because charitable giving to Children's is so ingrained in the fabric of the community that it is seen in a positive light, according to Jon Fitzgerald, president of the hospital's foundation.

So who was right--the experts who warned of dire consequences for the hospital or those who were confident that the hospital's brand wouldn't be harmed?