Corporate Social Responsibility

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) created and funded the American Eagle Outfitters Foundation (AEOF) as a way to formalize and maximize their commitment to sustainability and responsibility. They have engaged in numerous charity partnerships and customer engagement promotions with the hopes to increase positive change in the world. The three main charities that coordinate with AEOF include Teach for America, Bright Pink, and the Student Conservation Association. Through these charities, and many others, AEO strives to invest in and give back to their community. They also fund programs to encourage inclusivity and diversity among people and to encourage the younger generation to make their change (AEO Inc.).

At a company level, AEO prides themselves in their sustainability. Their four primary goals are to reduce water usage, save energy, improve their materials, and reduce and reuse waste. Their goal is to reduce water usage in factories, as well as to prevent the release of polluted water and increase their recycled water usage. AEO’s focus to save energy by pursuing more forms of renewable energy. Their attempts have already been notice and they hope to keep building on their carbon reduction success. Putting a focus on more sustainable materials raw materials would help AEO improve their materials and reduce their environmental impact. Their goal to improve materials goes along with their reduce and reuse objective as well. AEO hopes to reduce their plastic packaging, convert their labels to sustainably sourced materials, and recycle their apparel waste to increase their company sustainability (AEO Inc.).

Their efforts to improve sustainability have been both strategic and very beneficial. AEO’s efforts have already been success and continue to show promise. According to AEO’s Environmental, Social, Governance Ranking (ESG Ranking), AEO scores at 61% in a comparison with 18,621 other companies (CSR information). An ESG Ranking is calculated by using a set of standards for a company’s operations. The environmental criteria are ranked on how a company performs in consideration to the natural environment, their sustainability. Social criteria look at company relationships and how they are managed. This includes relationships at all levels, including employees, suppliers, customers, and communities. The last portion of ESG Ranking, governance, pays attention to how the company is run. This is a wide range that includes company leadership, executive pay, internal controls and shareholder rights (Fontinelle, 2018). A company’s ESG Ranking incorporates a lot of different factors and gives an overview of a company that is helpful to investors. Most commonly, ESG Rankings are used by investors who are in search of socially and environmentally conscious companies to invest in (Fontinelle, 2018). Based on AEO’s current ESG Ranking and their sustainability-based programs, they have developed good strategies that are effective, and will continue to improve, to decrease their carbon footprint.

AEO shows sustainability and CSR efforts at a service level as well. Through three main areas, Empower Youth, Fairness + Equality, and Women’s Wellness, AEO has paired with over 10 major programs to support and encourage all people. AEO’s Empower Youth programs exists to inspire youth to make a different. Rock the Vote empowers youth to learn about politics and vote for what they believe. Other subprograms, such as #GiveBackPack, Pittsburgh Promise, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Better Make Room, provide youth the education, guidance, and financial support required to pursue a post-secondary education. AEO also partners with Feeding American as part of their Empower Youth Program. In 2016, AEO donated 1.375 million meals around Thanksgiving to youth in America and Canada (AEO Inc.).

Fairness + Equality is another main focus for AEO. Within this program, AEO focuses on welcoming and embracing equality and diversity. They have supported numerous political actions towards equality, such as the 2015 Equality is Our Business Pledge, endorsing the Equality Act, and supporting the Pennsylvania Why Marriage Matters campaign. In support of equality, AEO partnered with InterPride in 2015 and has supported Pride Month since 2013. AEO has also participated in GLAAD Spirit Day, the world’s most well-known anti-bullying campaign, to support inclusivity and kindness for all (AEO Inc.).

In connection to Fairness + Equality, AEO also focused on celebrating women and empowering them to love themselves through the program Women’s Wellness. Specifically, the AEO branch, Aerie emphasized body positivity and breast cancer awareness for women. Bright Pink is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the prevention and early detection of breast and ovarian cancer in young women. AEO has partnered with Bright Pink to spark the conversation of cancer risks and education. AEO has also partnered with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and Strong, Beautiful, Me (SBM) to start the conversation of eating disorders among women. NEDA focuses on body positivity in hopes to reduce the prevalence and stigma of eating disorders. In February 2015, Aerie became the first retailer to partner with NEDA. Since then, Aerie has sponsored over 200 NEDA walks nationwide. To support SBM, which launched in 2016, AEO sells limited edition SBM t-shirts and donates the proceeds to NEDA (AEO Inc.). 

AEO shows their value creation by listening and creating change in areas important to their customers, workers, and communities. They have committed themselves to giving back to the community. AEO has chosen to focus on youth empowerment and education, environmental conservation, and women’s health because these topics are important to the people AEO serves. As of 2014, AEO has given almost two million dollars to various charities and organizations that are important to the company and the consumer (AEO Inc.)It is clear that not only does AEO support important organizations, they are extremely active in these programs and strive to make a difference.

Although AEO has strong CSR programs, their strive for inclusivity has had its challenges. In December 2017, AEO received a lot of backlash for a men’s bracelet they released. The bracelet caught attention when customers began calling it the “shackle bracelet” due to its resemblance to shackles. Due to the backlash, AEO removed the bracelet from their online market and from in stores, as well as issued an apology for the insensitivity of their product (Deabler, n.d.). AEO has also been criticized for their sizing. In June 2017, Riley Bodley posted on social media when she noticed inconsistency in the sizing of her AEO jeans. Bodley noticed that her five-year-old size zero AEO jeans had a larger waistline than her brand new size four AEO jeans. They received a lot of backlash because of AEO’s commitment to body positivity (TodayShow, n.d.). 

AEO "Shackle Bracelet"

The following link provides detailed information about AEO's social responsibility: 

https://www.aeo-inc.com/social-responsibility/

By Anna Overman