According to the Independent, estimates suggest that “around two-thirds of America’s clothes-buying population now fall into the plus-size category, generally deemed to be US size 14 and above”. But clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch has shown its disinterest in that huge market by not selling large sizes at all. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has provoked some anger towards the brand.

Recent media coverage of the firm has resurrected comments from 2006 by its CEO Mike Jefferies, which have hardly endeared him or his brand to the public. “We go after the cool kids,” Jeffries was quoted as saying. “We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely”.

It’s not often you get a CEO being so blunt about marketing, but frankly, these comments are unlikely to win him any new customers, as people of all sizes are likely to be offended by this elitist stance and reconsider their purchases.

Like clockwork, an online campaign to rebalance the brand’s attitude got underway this week. Internet humourist Greg Karber has uploaded a less than complimentary video about the firm to YouTube, which has notched up more than 5.9 million views – targeting the company’s reported policy of refusing to donate damaged clothing to the poor, in favour of burning it. After sifting through local thrift stores for Abercrombie goods, Karber has been handing them out to the homeless by the bundle.

Big business is under more scrutiny than ever – and thanks to the web, it’s easier for these types of campaigns to get a lot of support. For one thing, it does brands no good to ignore this kind of reputational damage. But it’s also not often that a company – as represented by its own CEO – so openly provokes the public into taking up a fight.