Abercrombie & Fitch Recycles Decade-Old Campaign Idea, Figuring You Won't Remember Anyway New 'Stars on the Rise' By David Gianatasio

Apparently unable to think up a new idea vapid enough for its liking, Abercrombie & Fitch—the self-proclaimed brand for the cool kids!—revisits its "Stars on the Rise" campaign from the early 2000s, now with new faces. Jacob Artist of Glee, Alexander Ludwig of The Hunger Games and Lily Rabe of American Horror Story are among those featured. Ludwig is shirtless. It looks like he works out. "For many of our consumers today, they might not know what we did in 2005, so it seemed relevant to discuss this concept we've done in the past," Abercrombie director of marketing Michael Scheiner tells BuzzFeed. Strange, he used the word "relevant." Without irony. I think. The monochrome print campaign, shot by Bruce Weber, also features famous dogs, like the Jack Russell terrier from The Artist, for no particular reason. Now, you might say it's just too easy to criticize soulless fashion and fragrance advertising, that there's no sport to it, and that doing so shows a certain intellectual laziness on my part. Well d'uh! The original version of the campaign thrust Taylor Swift and Ashton Kutcher into the limelight. Haven't we suffered enough already?