Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF) is facing some serious criticism for their brand right now. There are stories almost daily quoting (or attacking) heartless, and now famous, CEO Mike Jeffries who markets only to thin, popular kids. For any brand this kind of coverage would be a nightmare. Public Relations and branding pundits have been commenting for days about what A&F should or shouldn't do.

What has been left out of the conversation is something far more troubling for brand and reputation managers: This story is SEVEN years old. This kind of durability in the press, until now, has been reserved for the likes of Jennifer Aniston or Princess Diana. Seldom has the press or the blogosphere dredged up quotes that a C-suite exec made so many years ago. That was then, this is now. Reputation managers need to start thinking about these issues in a new way. We have been captivated by the speed of the news cycle and rushing to get information out quickly. Perhaps what we haven't thought about enough is that what a brand, or an executive, says or does will live on the internet forever in some form. A story, like the Energizer bunny, can just keep going and going and going.